When Rights Of Publicity Trump 1st Amendment

– Law360

In a recent 62 page decision by the Third Circuit obviously intended to give guidance in an unclear area of the law, the rights of publicity of a college athlete in a video game trumped the First Amendment arguments of the video game manufacturer: Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts Inc., No. 11-3570 (Third Circuit, May 21, 2013).

The college athlete, Ryan Hart, a star quarterback for Rutgers from 2002 to 2005, is attempting to represent a class of athletes like him, the video game manufacturer is Electronic Arts (EA), and the game is "NCAA Football," which has been produced for a series of years. The court held that the so-called "transformative use test" applied, and that EA did not sufficiently transform Hart's image to merit First Amendment protection, a holding that provides valuable guidance to practitioners.

Read the article here

manatt-black

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

pursuant to New York DR 2-101(f)

© 2024 Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.

All rights reserved