The Right of Publicity

Privacy Reimagined for a Public World

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Media & the Law, Intellectual Property
Cover of the book The Right of Publicity by Jennifer E. Rothman, Harvard University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jennifer E. Rothman ISBN: 9780674986350
Publisher: Harvard University Press Publication: May 1, 2018
Imprint: Harvard University Press Language: English
Author: Jennifer E. Rothman
ISBN: 9780674986350
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication: May 1, 2018
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Language: English

Who controls how one’s identity is used by others? This legal question, centuries old, demands greater scrutiny in the Internet age. Jennifer Rothman uses the right of publicity—a little-known law, often wielded by celebrities—to answer that question, not just for the famous but for everyone. In challenging the conventional story of the right of publicity’s emergence, development, and justifications, Rothman shows 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 right’s subsequent expansion undermine individual liberty and privacy, restrict free speech, and suppress artistic works. The Right of Publicity traces the right’s origins back to the emergence of the right of privacy in the late 1800s. The central impetus for the adoption of privacy laws was to protect people from “wrongful publicity.” This privacy-based protection was not limited to anonymous private citizens but applied to famous actors, athletes, and politicians. Beginning in the 1950s, the right transformed into a fully transferable intellectual property right, generating a host of legal disputes, from control of dead celebrities like Prince, to the use of student athletes’ images by the NCAA, to lawsuits by users of Facebook and victims of revenge porn. The right of publicity has lost its way. Rothman proposes returning the right to its origins and in the process reclaiming privacy for a public world.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Who controls how one’s identity is used by others? This legal question, centuries old, demands greater scrutiny in the Internet age. Jennifer Rothman uses the right of publicity—a little-known law, often wielded by celebrities—to answer that question, not just for the famous but for everyone. In challenging the conventional story of the right of publicity’s emergence, development, and justifications, Rothman shows 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 right’s subsequent expansion undermine individual liberty and privacy, restrict free speech, and suppress artistic works. The Right of Publicity traces the right’s origins back to the emergence of the right of privacy in the late 1800s. The central impetus for the adoption of privacy laws was to protect people from “wrongful publicity.” This privacy-based protection was not limited to anonymous private citizens but applied to famous actors, athletes, and politicians. Beginning in the 1950s, the right transformed into a fully transferable intellectual property right, generating a host of legal disputes, from control of dead celebrities like Prince, to the use of student athletes’ images by the NCAA, to lawsuits by users of Facebook and victims of revenge porn. The right of publicity has lost its way. Rothman proposes returning the right to its origins and in the process reclaiming privacy for a public world.

More books from Harvard University Press

Cover of the book Africans in the Old South by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Energy Revolution by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Making Toleration by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Mind and World by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Before Auschwitz by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Why Free Will Is Real by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Democracy’s Slaves by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book The Great Acceleration by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Field Notes on Science & Nature by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Japan at the Crossroads by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Elvis’s Army by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Making Scientists by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book The Army and Democracy by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Neither Peace nor Freedom by Jennifer E. Rothman
Cover of the book Enlightenment and Revolution by Jennifer E. Rothman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy