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Right of Publicity Case Roundup
Several recent court rulings aptly demonstrate how the right of publicity continues to be a vital cutting-edge area of celebrity law. Two of these decisions involved the interplay of state right of publicity laws with federal statutes. The other ruling found a Nevada court looking to California to determine at what litigation stage an affirmative transformative use defense may be raised, then whether the "Duke Caboom" character from the animated movie Toy Story 4 violated the descendible right of publicity of celebrated motorcycle risk-taker Evel Knievel.
Hepp v. Facebook Inc., 20-2725 (3d. Cir. 2021), focused on the interaction of Pennsylvania's statutory, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §8316, and common law right of publicity laws with the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230. Section 230 states: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." But the CDA allows an exception from this online immunity for claims based on "any law pertaining to intellectual property."
Philadelphia TV personality Karen Hepp had brought suit alleging that "without her consent, a photograph of her taken by a security camera in a convenience store in New York City was being used in online advertisements for erectile dysfunction and dating websites."
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