Questions tagged [right-of-publicity]
The right of individuals to control commercial use and benefits from their identity or likeness.
30
questions
3
votes
2answers
166 views
Can a platform become a publisher through it's actions?
Platforms such as social media sites are protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, this allows platforms to avoid liability for most content posted by its users.
Publishers, on ...
3
votes
1answer
97 views
Plausibility of US Suit over Ownership of Photos of Slaves
Background
As reported in this Washington Post news article and many similar articles in other major news organs, a lawsuit has very recently been filed against Harvard University and various ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Are there legal implications to lying about your sponsors?
Let's say I release a video where I say "sponsored by Company C" even though they never sponsored me.
Are there legal implications to lying about that, or is this action protected by the First ...
16
votes
4answers
7k views
Can a celebrity sue someone who takes obnoxious pictures/videos of him in public and uploads onto internet without his permission?
Suppose a celebrity digs his nose or scratches his private part because of sudden itch or performs some unsightly act in public. Someone takes his picture/video and uploads onto internet without his ...
1
vote
2answers
56 views
What constitutes Commercial Appropriation of Likeness?
Imagine a corporate executive named John Doe who's worth about $100 billion and ranks as one of the tree most famous people in the world. I want to write a tell-all book about him, focusing on ...
4
votes
1answer
177 views
Profit from a celebrity domain name if I have the same name?
Here is my situation.
I have a fairly unique first/last name in the States but it is common
in another country. I live in the States.
I own a .com, which is my full name. It is an empty page right ...
0
votes
1answer
123 views
Are photographs of portraits of Mozart that are in the public domain free for commercial use?
While there are photos of Einstein that are in the public domain (e.g. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Einstein_(Nobel).png), Einstein ,the person, is not in the public domain. For this ...
0
votes
1answer
22 views
Do I need a star's permission to write a fiction TV series inspired but not exactly as his life?
I want to write a fiction TV series inspired by a true love story between a star and his fans except that I'm going to represent the fans as an actual female character and make it a romantic series. ...
0
votes
3answers
65 views
What information about a person are private and what are public?
What information of a person I may write on my web site without special permission from that person? Lets take 'Steve Jobs', you can find a lot of websites where you can find date of birth, name, ...
0
votes
1answer
62 views
Is it legal to publish information about companies on my website?
I want to publish info about companies, for example:
Official title
Address
Founder, CEO, CFO, ...
Number of employees
Products of company
Description of what company does
Personaly I feel like it ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
What are the intellectual property rules regarding painting a real/fictitious person?
I am an absolute layman and unaware whether there are universally accepted (or something like the UN recommended) copyright laws or not and thus, I have not specified as to which copyright laws I am ...
1
vote
1answer
104 views
If I'm the director of photography for a project, does the production company need a model release from me if I film myself in the project?
I am the DP (director of photography) on a streaming TV show filmed in New York state. I am not employed by the production company, but rather work as a contractor with them. The production company ...
2
votes
0answers
28 views
Drug-testing on background
What sort of circumstances would allow a company or lab to put a positive pre-employment drug test on your background or send it to a consumer report agency? I'm curious about the consequences of ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
Using celebrity recording without permission
In the US, if one legally records a conversation with a celebrity, is one then allowed to use snippets of the recording (say, too short and generic for words spoken to be copyrighted) to produce a ...
2
votes
1answer
101 views
Can I legally use a photo if I'm in it?
I used to be a professional athlete. Gettyimages has many photos of me but want $500 per photo for a digital download. Do I have to pay for rights to the photos in which I am featured?
0
votes
1answer
85 views
Is using a person's face in satirical video without video legal?
I Have Been Taking Photos Of People And Putting Them On Youtube Videos In Satirical Context Without Consent. In One Case, It Was Against Their Will. I Do Not Leak Any Information Or Send Hate Or ...
0
votes
1answer
134 views
Can you be sued for using someone else's last name in app?
We are looking to create an app that contains someones last name in the title, as well as some data created by him.
The data is public for anyone to use in the form of spreadsheets, the goal of the ...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
Is it legal to use a person's name for a commercial purpose if it is a household name?
As an example, could I make a company called "Einstein Electronics" or "Houdini Locks" (probably not a great name for a lock company) or something without getting permission from the named persons, ...
1
vote
1answer
159 views
Are all ORIGINAL VERSION classical sheet music in the public domain?
I know that there is a law in US mentioning that any copyright of any musical composition drops by 70 years after composer's death.
The point is that this law is ambiguous. I heard many viewpoints ...
2
votes
0answers
74 views
Media consent form for summer camp
We have a media consent form that parents have signed for the campers at our summer camp. The wording is as follows:
The Participant identified below desires to participate in the [insert summer ...
0
votes
1answer
143 views
Celebrity images for non commercial purposes
Can I source photos off of the web of celebrities for non-commercial purposes? In particular: a theatre wants to project images of celebrities onto the backdrop of their stage as part of a "tribute ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views
What recourse do I have against commercial use of my image?
Somebody took photos of my wife on a treadmill at a gym without her permission.
One of those photos appeared a week later in the local paper in an advertisement for a car dealership.
Subsequently my ...
4
votes
2answers
261 views
Does posting a photo of a couple on a website require permission from both people in the photo?
Working on a unique concept website, I am questioning how legal it is and what sort of disclaimer would need to be present in the T&C to remain protected.
Basically, a user pays a fee and is ...
1
vote
0answers
758 views
Is it legal to embed Youtube video in a paid app?
I'm a programmer and I'm developing a paid app on Android.
My question: Is it legal to embed Youtube video in an Android paid app ?
For example: I want to embed the code below in my app:
<iframe ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Am I allowed to use famous peoples' faces in an app?
For example, can I use David Cameron's face in an app, without permission?
3
votes
1answer
372 views
What is illegal about my app?
I want to create an app similar to the 4shared Music app that enables downloading MP3 files stored on my server.
Features
Serves all mp3 files from host server
Distributed via Google Play Store
...
8
votes
2answers
198 views
Are pictures that don't have model releases protected under the DMCA?
Let's say a user of my website posted a picture. I know that as long as my website and the picture satisfies the conditions of the DMCA, I have a safe harbor against copyright claims by the individual ...
7
votes
2answers
3k views
What is considered “public” in the context of taking videos or audio recordings?
According to the answers in this question it's legal to photograph someone in public without their consent. I'm assuming the answers still hold true for video or audio recording (such as what can be ...
9
votes
1answer
483 views
How do laws affect photography of non-humans in public when people may be in the frame?
Given that this is taking place in a public area where one would not have an expectation of privacy, what legal restrictions exist on photography of people where they are not the subject of the ...
39
votes
4answers
13k views
What are the legal repercussions of taking a stranger's picture in public?
With Snapchat and Instagram it is all too easy to abuse picture taking and really inexpensive to snap a photo of an unknowing stranger. If you are in public and will only post pictures online without ...
