2023 New York Laws › CVR - Civil Rights › Article 5 - Right of Privacy › 50-F - Right of Publicity.

§ 50-f. Right of publicity. 1. For purposes of this section:
a.  "deceased  performer" means a deceased natural person domiciled in
  this state at the time  of  death  who,  for  gain  or  livelihood,  was
  regularly  engaged  in  acting,  singing,  dancing, or playing a musical
  instrument.
b. "deceased personality" means any deceased natural person  domiciled
  in  this  state  at  the  time  of  death  whose name, voice, signature,
  photograph, or likeness has commercial value at the time of his  or  her
  death,  or  because  of  his  or  her  death,  whether or not during the
  lifetime of that natural person the person used his or her name,  voice,
  signature,  photograph,  or  likeness on or in products, merchandise, or
  goods, or for purposes of advertising or  selling,  or  solicitation  of
  purchase of, products, merchandise, goods, or services.
c.    "digital    replica"    means   a   newly   created,   original,
  computer-generated,  electronic  performance  by  an  individual  in   a
  separate  and  newly  created,  original  expressive  sound recording or
  audiovisual work in which the individual did not actually perform,  that
  is  so  realistic  that  a  reasonable  observer  would  believe it is a
  performance by the individual being portrayed and no other individual. A
  digital replica does not include the electronic  reproduction,  computer
  generated  or other digital remastering of an expressive sound recording
  or audiovisual work consisting of an individual's original  or  recorded
  performance,  nor  the  making  or duplication of another recording that
  consists entirely of the independent fixation of other sounds,  even  if
  such sounds imitate or simulate the voice of the individual.
d.  "sound  recordings"  are  works that result from the fixation of a
  series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds
  accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work,  regardless  of
  the  nature  of  the  material  objects,  such as disks, tapes, or other
  phonorecords, in which they are embodied.
2. a. Any person  who  uses  a  deceased  personality's  name,  voice,
  signature,  photograph,  or  likeness, in any manner, on or in products,
  merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of  advertising  or  selling,  or
  soliciting  purchases  of,  products,  merchandise,  goods, or services,
  without  prior  consent  from  the  person  or  persons   specified   in
  subdivision  four  of  this  section,  shall  be  liable for any damages
  sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof.
b. Any person who uses a deceased performer's  digital  replica  in  a
  scripted  audiovisual  work  as  a  fictional  character or for the live
  performance of a musical work shall be liable for any damages  sustained
  by  the  person or persons injured as a result thereof if the use occurs
  without prior consent from the person or persons in subdivision four  of
  this  section,  if the use is likely to deceive the public into thinking
  it was authorized by the person or persons specified in subdivision four
  of this section. A use shall not be considered  likely  to  deceive  the
  public  into  thinking  it  was  authorized  by  the  person  or persons
  specified in subdivision four of this section if the person making  such
  use  provides  a  conspicuous  disclaimer in the credits of the scripted
  audiovisual work, and in any related advertisement in which the  digital
  replica  appears,  stating  that  the use of the digital replica has not
  been authorized by the person or persons specified in  subdivision  four
  of this section.
c. In any action brought under this section:
i.  the person who violated the section shall be liable to the injured
  party or parties in an amount equal  to  the  greater  of  two  thousand
  dollars  or  the  compensatory  damages suffered by the injured party or
  parties, as a result of the unauthorized use, and any profits  from  the

  unauthorized  use  that  are  attributable to such use and are not taken
  into account in computing the compensatory damages.
ii.  in establishing profits under this subdivision, the injured party
  or parties shall be required to present proof only of the gross  revenue
  attributable  to  the unauthorized use, and the person who violated this
  section is required to prove his or her deductible expenses.
iii. punitive damages may also be awarded  to  the  injured  party  or
  parties.
d. For purposes of this subdivision:
i.  it  shall not be a violation of paragraph a of this subdivision if
  the work is a play, book, magazine, newspaper, or other  literary  work;
  musical  work  or composition; work of art or other visual work; work of
  political, public interest, educational or newsworthy  value,  including
  comment,  criticism,  parody or satire; audio or audiovisual work, radio
  or television program, if it is fictional or nonfictional entertainment;
  or an advertisement or commercial announcement for any of the  foregoing
  works.
ii.  it shall not be a violation of paragraph b of this subdivision if
  the work is of  parody,  satire,  commentary,  or  criticism;  works  of
  political  or newsworthy value, or similar works, such as documentaries,
  docudramas, or historical  or  biographical  works,  regardless  of  the
  degree  of fictionalization; a representation of a deceased performer as
  himself or herself, regardless of the degree of fictionalization, except
  in a live performance of a musical work; de minimis or incidental; or an
  advertisement or commercial announcement for any of the foregoing works.
iii. it shall not be a violation of this section if the use of a name,
  voice, signature, photograph, or likeness occurs in connection with  any
  news,  public  affairs,  or  sports  program  or  account, regardless of
  format, medium or means of transmission, or any political campaign.
iv. it shall not be a violation of this section if the  use  is  of  a
  name,  voice,  signature, photograph, or likeness in a commercial medium
  solely because the material containing the use is commercially sponsored
  or contains paid advertising or product placement, or includes within it
  a use in connection with a product, article  of  merchandise,  good,  or
  service.  Rather,  it shall be a question of fact whether or not the use
  of the deceased personality's name,  voice,  signature,  photograph,  or
  likeness  was  so  directly connected with the commercial sponsorship or
  with the paid advertising or product placement as to  constitute  a  use
  for which consent is required under this subdivision.
v.  works identified pursuant to this paragraph shall not violate this
  section, regardless of the medium or means of transmission.
e. In relation to a violation of paragraph a of this subdivision, if a
  work that is protected under paragraph d of  this  subdivision  includes
  within  it  a  use in connection with a product, article of merchandise,
  good, or service, this use shall not be exempt under paragraph d of this
  subdivision, notwithstanding the unprotected use's inclusion in  a  work
  otherwise  exempt under paragraph d of this subdivision, if the claimant
  proves that this use is so directly connected with a product, article of
  merchandise, good, or service as to constitute an  act  of  advertising,
  selling,   or   soliciting   purchases   of  that  product,  article  of
  merchandise, good, or service by the deceased personality without  prior
  consent  for  the  use  under  paragraph  a of this subdivision from the
  person or persons specified in subdivision four of this section.
3. The rights recognized  under  this  section  are  property  rights,
  freely  transferable  or  descendible, in whole or in part, by contract,
  license, gift, or by means  of  any  trust  or  any  other  testamentary
  instrument.  In  the  absence  of  an express transfer in a testamentary
  instrument of the deceased personality's rights  in  his  or  her  name,

  voice,   signature,   photograph,   or  likeness,  a  provision  in  the
  testamentary instrument that provides for the disposition of the residue
  of the deceased personality's assets shall be effective to transfer  the
  rights  recognized  under  this  section in accordance with the terms of
  that provision. The rights established by this  section  shall  also  be
  freely transferable or descendible by contract, license, gift, trust, or
  any  other  testamentary  instrument  by  any  subsequent  owner  of the
  deceased personality's rights as recognized by this section. Nothing  in
  this  section  shall be construed to render invalid or unenforceable any
  contract entered into by  a  deceased  personality  during  his  or  her
  lifetime by which the deceased personality assigned the rights, in whole
  or  in  part,  to  use his or her name, voice, signature, photograph, or
  likeness.
4. The consent required by this section shall be  exercisable  by  the
  person  or persons to whom the right of consent, or portion thereof, has
  been transferred in accordance with subdivision three of  this  section,
  or  if  no  transfer has occurred, then by the person or persons to whom
  the right of consent, or portion thereof, has passed in accordance  with
  subdivision five of this section.
5.  Subject to subdivisions three and four of this section, the rights
  under this section of an individual dying intestate shall be distributed
  under the laws of intestate succession, and the rights and  remedies  of
  this  article  may  be exercised and enforced by a person or persons who
  possess at least a fifty-one percent interest of the individual's rights
  under this section. Such persons shall make  a  proportional  accounting
  to,  and shall act at all times in good faith with respect to, any other
  person in whom the rights being enforced have vested.
6. If any deceased personality does not transfer  his  or  her  rights
  under  this  section by contract, or by means of a trust or testamentary
  instrument,  and  there  are  no  surviving  persons  as  described   in
  subdivision  five  of  this  section,  then  the  rights  set  forth  in
  subdivision two of this section shall terminate.
7. a. Any person claiming to be a successor in interest to the  rights
  of  a  deceased personality under this section or a licensee thereof may
  register that claim with the secretary of state on a form prescribed  by
  the secretary of state and upon payment of a fee, which the secretary of
  state  shall  set  by rule. The form shall be verified and shall include
  the name and date of death of the deceased  personality,  the  name  and
  address of the claimant, the basis of the claim, and the rights claimed.
  A  successor  in  interest to the rights of a deceased personality under
  this section or a licensee thereof shall not have a cause of action  for
  a  use  prohibited  by  this section that occurs before the successor in
  interest or licensee registers a claim of the rights.
b. Upon receipt and after filing of any document under  this  section,
  the  secretary  of  state  shall post the document along with the entire
  registry of persons claiming to be a successor in interest to the rights
  of a deceased personality or a registered licensee  under  this  section
  upon the secretary of state's internet website.
c. Claims registered under this subdivision shall be public records.
8.  An action shall not be brought under this section by reason of any
  use of a deceased personality's name, voice, signature,  photograph,  or
  likeness  occurring  after the expiration of forty years after the death
  of the deceased personality.
9. Nothing in this section shall apply to the owners or  employees  of
  any  medium  used  for  advertising,  including,  but  not  limited  to,
  newspapers, magazines, radio and television networks and stations, cable
  television systems, billboards, and transit advertisements, by whom  any
  advertisement  or solicitation in violation of this section is published

  or disseminated, unless it is established that the owners  or  employees
  had  actual  knowledge  by prior notification of the unauthorized use of
  the deceased performer's digital replica or deceased personality's name,
  voice, signature, photograph, or likeness as prohibited by this section.
10.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall apply to a person that offers a
  service that displays, offers for sale or license, sells or  licenses  a
  work  of  art  or  other  visual  work,  or audiovisual work, to a user,
  provided the terms of such sale or license do not authorize such user to
  engage in acts that constitute a violation of this section.
11. The provisions of this section are in addition to, but  shall  not
  supersede, any other rights or remedies available in law or equity.
12.  This section shall apply to the adjudication of liability and the
  imposition of any damages or  other  remedies  in  cases  in  which  the
  liability,  damages,  and  other  remedies  arise  from  acts  occurring
  directly in this state. For purposes of this section, acts  giving  rise
  to   liability  shall  be  limited  to  the  use,  on  or  in  products,
  merchandise, goods, or services,  or  the  advertising  or  selling,  or
  soliciting  purchases  of,  products,  merchandise,  goods,  or services
  prohibited by this section.
13. Nothing in this  section  shall  be  construed  to  limit,  or  to
  enlarge,  the protections that 47 U.S.C. § 230 confers on an interactive
  computer service for content provided  by  another  information  content
  provider, as such terms are defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230.