Opinion ID: 3035537
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Copyrightable Subject Matter?

Text: Looking to the second prong of 17 U.S.C. § 301(a), does Facenda’s voice fall under the subject matter of copyright? The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has stated, in the context of vocal imitations, that “[a] voice is not copyrightable. The sounds are not ‘fixed.’ What is put forward as protectible [sic] here is more personal than any work of authorship.” Midler v. Ford Motor Co., 849 F.2d 460, 462 (9th Cir. 1988). One can fix Facenda’s voice in a tangible medium by recording it, but one cannot divorce his distinctive voice itself from the Facenda identity (or persona). See 1 Nimmer on Copyright § 1.01[B][1][c], at 1-30 (“The ‘work’ that is the subject of the right of publicity is the persona, i.e., the name and likeness of a celebrity or other individual. A persona can hardly be said to constitute a ‘writing’ of an ‘author’ within the meaning of the Copyright Clause of the Constitution.”); 2 McCarthy, Rights of Publicity and Privacy § 11:53, at 802 (“The sound in plaintiff’s recording is merely an indicium by which the listening public can identify plaintiff's persona and identity.”). We hold that Facenda’s voice is outside the subject matter of copyright.12 Thus, the second prong of § 301(a) is not satisfied.