From the course: Understanding Intellectual Property (2014)
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Exceptions to rights-of-publicity law
From the course: Understanding Intellectual Property (2014)
Exceptions to rights-of-publicity law
So beyond the issue of whether somebody is a celebrity or whether there's something that's been written that's newsworthy, what are the other exceptions to right of publicity law? Well, you can obtain a waiver from somebody, and simply have them sign something that says that you have the right to use their name, their likeness, their voice. We often call this a model release. When somebody is being photographed, we ask them to sign a simple document. In addition, there is an exception for certain things like paintings. An artist can paint a famous person, and even sell limited edition prints of the painting of that person. I like to paint in oil. If I wanted to paint Clint Eastwood, I could paint a picture of Clint Eastwood. And I'm not infringing his right of publicity. In addition, I can sell a limited number, maybe a couple of thousand copies, of the print of the painting that I created of Clint Eastwood, and I would not be infringing his right of publicity. I might be infringing…