Likeness Rights

Extracted Attributes

• Legal Nature

  Property Rights

• Primary Name

  Likeness Rights

• Also Known As

  Personality Rights

• Legal Basis (US)

  Largely protected by state common or statutory law

• Scope of Protection

  Commercial use of identity (name, image, likeness, voice, signature, nickname, pseudonym, photograph, other unequivocal identifiers)

• Legal Basis (Canada)

  Recognized in common law, first acknowledged in Krouse v. Chrysler Canada Ltd. (1971)

• Post-mortem Validity

  May survive death, varies by jurisdiction

• Related Legal Claims

  Copyright, privacy, defamation, trademark

• Violation Occurs When

  Likeness is used on or in connection with products/merchandise, or to sell/advertise goods/services without permission

Timeline

• The limited right to personality (likeness rights) was first acknowledged in Canadian common law in the Ontario decision of Krouse v. Chrysler Canada Ltd. (Source: web_search_results)

  1971

• The Canadian right to personality was expanded upon in Athans v. Canadian Adventure Camps. (Source: web_search_results)

  1977

• YouTube is developing new "Likeness Detection" technology, using its Content ID system as a blueprint, to protect creators' likeness rights against the rise of Generative AI. (Source: document_5a31daeb-e653-4fbc-8e8f-b47c43f29181)

  Ongoing

Personality rights

Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as property rights, rather than personal rights, and so the validity of personality rights of publicity may survive the death of the individual to varying degrees, depending on the jurisdiction.

Web Search Results

• Personality rights - Wikipedia

  Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as property rights, rather than personal rights, and so the validity of personality rights of publicity may survive the death of the individual to varying degrees, depending on the jurisdiction. ## Classification [edit] [...] Personality rights are generally considered to consist of two types of rights: the right of publicity, or the right to keep one's image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar (but not identical) to the use of a trademark; and the right to privacy, or the right to be left alone and not have one's personality represented publicly without permission. In common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the [...] Canadian common law recognizes a limited right to personality. It was first acknowledged in the 1971 Ontario decision of Krouse v. Chrysler Canada Ltd., where the Court held that where a person has marketable value in their likeness and it has been used in a manner that suggests an endorsement of a product then there is grounds for an action in appropriation of personality. This right was later expanded upon in Athans v. Canadian Adventure Camps (1977) where the Court held that the personality

• Legalities 7: Issues Regarding the Use of Someone's Likeness

  These rights are violated when a person’s likeness is used on or in connection with products or merchandise (“goods”), or to sell or advertise goods or services. [...] This right is violated when someone discloses private or sensitive matters about a private person. It covers matters that occur in private places, and also in semi-private settings where the individual had a reasonable expectation that she was seen only by a limited group of people. For example, this right is violated when a news reporter secretly videotapes a conversation with an employee at her place of work, even though her fellow employees witnessed the conversation. [...] (4) Invasion of privacy by false light disclosure This right is violated when your likeness is used to suggest something false and derogatory or defamatory about you. For example, suppose an individual’s photograph is used to illustrate an article about drug dealing. If that individual is not a drug dealer, the article has created a false insinuation about his character.

• Right of Publicity - International Trademark Association

  Outside the United States, rights analogous to the right of publicity are sometimes recognized as “personality rights,” “rights of persona,” or other similar terminology, and the source and scope of those rights vary. From a trademark point of view, a person’s name or likeness can—through proper trademark use and/or registration—also develop into a trademark. As a result, some celebrities register their names and/or likenesses as trademarks. [...] What Is Right of Publicity? The right of publicity is an intellectual property right that protects against the misappropriation of a person’s name, likeness, or other indicia of personal identity—such as nickname, pseudonym, voice, signature, likeness, or photograph—for commercial benefit. [...] When considering right of publicity issues, copyright claims, privacy claims, and defamation claims may also arise. The right of publicity is an evolving and developing area of the law that has similarities to trademark law and may also impact brand owners. Our Position

• publicity | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

  Skip to main content Cornell Law School Search Cornell # publicity ## Right of Publicity: an overview The right of publicity prevents the unauthorized commercial use of an individual's name, likeness, or other recognizable aspects of one's persona. It gives an individual the exclusive right to license the use of their identity for commercial promotion. [...] In the United States, the right of publicity is largely protected by state common or statutory law. Only about half the states have distinctly recognized a right of publicity. Of these, many do not recognize a right by that name but protect it as part of the Right of Privacy. The Restatement Second of Torts recognizes four types of invasions of privacy: intrusion, appropriation of name or likeness, unreasonable publicity, and false light. See Restatement (Second) Of Torts §§ 652A - 652I. Under [...] the Restatement's formulation, the invasion of the right of publicity is most similar to the unauthorized appropriation of one's name or likeness. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652C, comments a & b, illustrations 1 & 2.

• The Right of Publicity | Venable LLP

  Social media has confirmed that you don’t need to be a celebrity to profit from your own image. The right of an individual to control the economic use and exploitation of his or her identity is called the right of publicity. In most states, this right extends to an individual’s name, image, and likeness. It can serve as a legal tool to recognize and secure an individual’s financial interest in their identity. So, what does the right of publicity protect? And how can one make a case for or [...] Unauthorized commercial use of a protected aspect of a person’s identity is, generally, a violation of that person’s right of publicity. A violator may have a strong defense against unauthorized use, though, in a variety of contexts, including: [...] Parties on either side of the arrangement can work with counsel to consider the rights granted to the individual in the applicable state, to consider how courts may interpret or enforce against a particular use of the identity in question, or to account for the parties’ concerns and interests.