Celebrity Rights: Protection under IP Laws

Abstract

Protecting celebrity rights under intellectual property (IP) laws is a significant development in the field of intellectual properties rights. Celebrities can flaunt their popularity and are permitted to make riches out of their identity. Though celebrities have often lend their voices, faces and names to various commercial and non-commercial endeavours for free, there have been instances where photographs of celebrities have been used in advertising and for other purposes without their permission, leading to a scenario where celebrities are unable to make choices regarding the exposure which is acceptable to them as well as monetary benefits that they wish to acquire. In this paper, a modest endeavour is made to highlight and explain various issues concerning celebrity rights and their protection under IP laws. There are various international conventions, which have recognized these rights, either directly or indirectly. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights are noteworthy evidence in this regard. Moreover, the rights of a celebrity can be protected through copyright, trademark, etc. In this paper, various rights like right to privacy, publicity/m<strong>erchandising right</strong>, moral right, personality right, right of passing off, etc. are discussed. These rights are explained in the light of laws in India and practices prevalent in US, UK, and civil law countries like France and Germany.