The Right of Publicity
Jennifer E. Rothman is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law.
Who decides how others use one's identity? This centuries-old legal question requires closer examination in the Internet age. Jennifer Rothman answers that question using the right of publicity, a little-known law frequently used by celebrities, not just for the famous but for everyone. In challenging the conventional story of the emergence, development, and justifications of the right of publicity, Rothman demonstrates how it transformed people into intellectual property, leading to a bizarre world in which you can lose ownership of your own identity. This shift, and the subsequent expansion of the right, undermine individual liberty and privacy, limit free speech, and suppress artistic works.
The Right to Publicity, one of the best books on intellectual property and copyright, traces its origins back to the late 1800s, when the right to privacy was established. The primary motivation for enacting privacy laws was to protect people from "wrongful publicity." This privacy-based protection extended not only to anonymous private citizens, but also to well-known actors, athletes, and politicians. Beginning in the 1950s, the right evolved into a fully transferable intellectual property right, sparking a slew of legal battles ranging from the control of deceased celebrities like Prince to the NCAA's use of student athletes' images, to lawsuits by Facebook users and victims of revenge porn.
The right to be heard has gone astray. Rothman proposes returning the right to its origins, reclaiming privacy for a public world in the process.
Author: Jennifer Rothman
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Publicity-Privacy-Reimagined-Public/dp/0674980980/
Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars (from 11 reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,691,199 in Books
#159 in Media & the Law
#650 in Intellectual Property Law (Books)
#1,380 in Legal History (Books)
