The Commercial Appropriation of Fame

A Cultural Analysis of the Right of Publicity and Passing Off

David Tan

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781107139329
• eBook ISBN: 9781108184632
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Intellectual Property Law
• Index: Law

Celebrities can sell anything from cars to clothing, and we are constantly fascinated by their influence over our lifestyle choices. This book makes an important contribution to legal scholarship about the laws governing the commercial appropriation of fame. Exploring the right of publicity in the US and the passing off action in the UK and Australia, David Tan demonstrates how an appreciation of the production, circulation and consumption of fame can be incorporated into a pragmatic framework to further the understanding of the laws protecting the commercial value of the celebrity personality. Using contemporary examples such as social media and appropriation art, Tan shows how present challenges for the law may be addressed using this cultural framework. This book will be of interest to intellectual property law academics, judges, practitioners and students in the US and common law jurisdictions, as well as those in the field of cultural studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Foreword by Professor Graeme Dinwoodie
• Preface
• Table of Cases
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Relevant Insights from Cultural Studies on Contemporary Fame
• 3 The Right of Publicity in the United States
• 4 Right of Publicity and Indicia of Identity
• 5 Right of Publicity and the Appropriation of Commercial Value of Identity
• 6 Right of Publicity and the Freedom of Speech under the First Amendment
• 7 Cultural Studies and the Common Law Passing Off Action
• 8 Twenty-First Century Challenges: Digital Fandom, Social Media and Fantasy Video Games
• 9 Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Index