Opinion ID: 782341
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Woods' Right of Publicity Claim in this Case

Text: 194 Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company is the sole case from the Supreme Court to directly address the right of publicity, and the case came to the Supreme Court by way of certiorari from the Ohio Supreme Court under Ohio common law. See Zacchini, 47 Ohio St.2d 224, 351 N.E.2d 454 (1976), rev'd on other grounds, 433 U.S. 562, 572, 97 S.Ct. 2849, 53 L.Ed.2d 965 (1977). The plaintiff, Zacchini, was the performer of a live human cannonball act who subsequently sued a television station that had videotaped and broadcast his entire performance without his consent. See 433 U.S. at 563-64, 97 S.Ct. 2849. The Supreme Court found in favor of Zacchini, holding that the First Amendment did not protect the television station against a right of publicity claim under Ohio common law. Id. at 565-66, 97 S.Ct. 2849. The Court explained that the enforcement of the right of publicity claim was not at odds with the First Amendment inasmuch as the rationale for [protecting the right of publicity] is the straightforward one of preventing unjust enrichment by the theft of good will. No social purpose is served by having the defendant get free some aspect of the plaintiff that would have market value and for which he would normally pay. Id. at 576, 97 S.Ct. 2849. 195 Indeed, since Zacchini, [t]he right of publicity has often been invoked in the context of commercial speech when the appropriation of a celebrity likeness creates a false and misleading impression that the celebrity is endorsing a product. See Comedy III Prods., Inc. v. Saderup, Inc., 25 Cal.4th 387, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d 797, 802 (2001) (citing Waits v. Frito-Lay, Inc. 978 F.2d 1093 (9th Cir.1992); Midler v. Ford Motor Co., 849 F.2d 460 (9th Cir.1988)). Because the First Amendment does not protect false and misleading commercial speech, and because even non-misleading commercial speech is generally subject to somewhat lesser First Amendment protection, see Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Pub. Serv. Com'n, 447 U.S. 557, 563-64 & 566, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980), the right of publicity often trumps the right of advertisers to make use of celebrity figures. Comedy III, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 802. In this case, to the extent that the district court was correct in characterizing Defendant's prints as expressive works and not as commercial products, even though Defendant was selling the prints for financial gain, the issue becomes what degree of First Amendment protection should be afforded to Defendant's expressive work. 196 In answering this question, one must look beyond Zacchini inasmuch as Zacchini has been criticized as being very narrowly drawn in that it involved the wholesale reproduction of a live entire act, which is quite distinguishable from the unauthorized use of a person's identity, particularly when the unauthorized use is in the form of an expressive work, as in the matter at hand. See MCCARTHY, supra at § 8:27 (recognizing that while the Zacchini majority and dissenting opinions have been picked apart word by word by the commentators, no clear message emerges and no general rule is discernible by which to predict the result of conflicts between the right of publicity and the First Amendment.) With that in mind, guidance is provided by the California Supreme Court because it has addressed the specific issue in a case nearly on all fours with that presented here; namely, Comedy III Productions v. Gary Saderup, Inc., 25 Cal.4th 387, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d 797 (2001). See MCCARTHY, supra at § 8:27 (stating that when deciding Comedy III, the California Supreme Court found that when the challenged speech is not in the category of commercial speech, what Zacchini teaches us is that valid interests behind the right of publicity must be balanced against First Amendment policies, and that an accommodation must be reached). 197 In Comedy III, the plaintiff, Comedy III Productions, which is the registered owner of all rights to the former comedy act known as The Three Stooges, filed suit against the defendants, Gary Saderup and Gary Saderup, Inc., seeking damages and injunctive relief for violation of, among other things, California's right of publicity statute in connection with the defendants' sale of T-shirts and lithographs bearing the image of the Three Stooges produced from a charcoal drawing done by Saderup. See 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 800. The defendants sold the T-shirts and lithographs without the plaintiff's consent, profiting $75,000 from the sale of these items. Id. at 800-01. The trial court found for the plaintiff, and entered judgment in the amount of $75,000 as well as $150,000 in attorney's fees plus costs. Id. at 801. The court also issued a permanent injunction restraining Saderup from violating the statute by use of any likeness of The Three Stooges in lithographs, T-shirts, or any other medium by which Saderup's artwork may be sold or marketed. Id. In addition, the trial court enjoined Saderap in several other respects regarding his marketing products in connection with The Three Stooges, but allowed Saderup's original charcoal drawing from which the reproductions were made to be exempt from the injunction. Id. at 801. 198 The defendants appealed, and the court of appeals modified the judgment by striking the injunction on the basis that the plaintiff had not shown a likelihood of continued violation of the statute, and that the wording of the statute was overbroad. Id. However, the court of appeals affirmed in all other respects, thereby rejecting the defendants' arguments that 1) his conduct did not violate the terms of the statute; and 2) in any event, his conduct was protected by the constitutional guaranty of freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Id. The defendants appealed to the California Supreme Court, which granted leave to address the two arguments raised by the defendants. Id. For purposes of the matter at hand, we focus on the Supreme Court of California's analysis of the First Amendment argument. 199 The court began by recognizing that the defendants' First Amendment claim presented a difficult issue, in that the works in question were expressive works and not commercial advertisements. See Comedy III, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 802. The court noted that [a]lthough [the defendants'] work was done for financial gain, the First Amendment is not limited to those who publish without charge.... An expressive activity does not lose its constitutional protection because it is undertaken for profit. See id. (alterations, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted). The court then recognized the high degree of First Amendment protection for noncommercial speech about celebrities, but at the same time noted that not all expression that trenches on the right of publicity receives such protection. See id. Specifically, the court opined: 200 The right of publicity, like copyright, protects a form of intellectual property that society deems to have some social utility. Often considerable money, time and energy are needed to develop one's prominence in a particular field. Years of labor may be required before one's skill, reputation, notoriety or virtues are sufficiently developed to permit an economic return through some medium of commercial promotion. For some, the investment may eventually create considerable commercial value in one's identity. 201 Id. at 804-05 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 202 The court then found that the case before it exemplified that kind of creative labor. Id. According to the California Supreme Court, the three men who came to enjoy celebrity status began their career in vaudeville and it was a long and arduous process until the three finally enjoyed the heights of slapstick comic celebrities known as The Three Stooges. See 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 805. As the court stated, [t]hrough their talent and labor, they joined the relatively small group of actors who constructed identifiable, recurrent comic personalities that they brought to the many parts they were scripted to play. Id. As a result, the issue became whether the defendants' First Amendment rights trumped the plaintiff's right of publicity. 203 Relying on Zacchini and several cases from lower courts recognizing a celebrity's right of publicity, the court found that depictions of celebrities which amounted to little more than the appropriation of the celebrity's economic value, were not protected by the First Amendment. See id. at 805. As that premise related to the expressive works at issue, the court opined: 204 It is admittedly not a simple matter to develop a test that will unerringly distinguish between forms of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment and those that must give way to the right of publicity. Certainly, any such test must incorporate the principle that the right of publicity cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, be a right to control the celebrity's image by censoring disagreeable portrayals. Once the celebrity thrusts himself or herself forward into the limelight, the First Amendment dictates that the right to comment on, parody, lampoon, and make other expressive uses of the celebrity image must be given broad scope. The necessary implication of this observation is that the right of publicity is essentially an economic right. What the right of publicity holder possesses is not a right of censorship, but a right to prevent others from misappropriating the economic value generated by the celebrity's fame through the merchandising of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of the celebrity. 205 Comedy III, 21 P.3d at 807-08. Beyond this precept, the court looked to the first factor of copyright's fair use doctrine — the purpose and character of the use — for guidance. Id. at 808 (quoting 17 U.S.C. § 107(1)). 206 The court further looked to the United States Supreme Court regarding the purpose and application of this fair use factor and noted that the inquiry involved `whether the new work merely supersede[s] the objects of the original creation, or instead adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning, or message; it asks, in other words, whether and to what extent the new work is transformative.' Comedy III, 106 Cal. Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 808 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (quoting Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 579, 114 S.Ct. 1164, 127 L.Ed.2d 500 (1994)). The court found that looking to whether the work in question possessed any transformative elements squared with the Supreme Court's finding in Zacchini that [w]hen artistic expression takes the form of a literal depiction or imitation of a celebrity for commercial gain, directly trespassing on the right of publicity without adding significant expression beyond that trespass, the state law interest in protecting the fruits of artistic labor outweighs the expressive interests of the imitative artist. Id. (citing Zacchini, 433 U.S. at 575-76, 97 S.Ct. 2849). In other words, although the Supreme Court did not apply the transformative test per se in Zacchini, the Court looked to whether the defendant had simply appropriated the plaintiff's performance in its entirety without any further creative effort. In addition, the court noted that the transformative test also squared with the First Amendment and the right of publicity inasmuch as works of parody or other distortions of the celebrity figure are not, from the celebrity fan's viewpoint, good substitutes for conventional depictions of the celebrity and therefore do not generally threaten markets for celebrity memorabilia that the right of publicity is designed to protect. Id. (citing Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Assoc., 95 F.3d 959, 974 (10th Cir.1996)). Said differently, [t]he `transformative' test ... protect[s] the right-of-publicity holder's core interest in monopolizing the merchandising of celebrity images without unnecessarily impinging on the artists' right of free expression. Id. at 808 n. 10. 207 Applying the transformative test to an artist's work at issue in Comedy III, the charcoal sketch made into lithographs and printed on T-shirts, the court found that the defendants' work was not protected inasmuch as the creative contribution was subordinated to the overall goal of creating a literal image of the Three Stooges to commercially exploit their fame. Id. at 811. In doing so, the court noted that when an artist's skill and talent is manifestly subordinated to the overall goal of creating a conventional portrait of a celebrity so as to commercially exploit his or her fame, then the artist's right of free expression is outweighed by the right of publicity. Id. 208 In the instant case, where we are faced with an expressive work and the question of whether that work is protected under the First Amendment, the reasoning and transformative test set forth in Comedy III are in line with the Supreme Court's reasoning in Zacchini as well as in harmony with the goals of both the right to publicity and the First Amendment. Applying the test here, it is difficult to discern any appreciable transformative or creative contribution in Defendant's prints so as to entitle them to First Amendment protection. A literal depiction of a celebrity, even if accomplished with great skill, may still be subject to a right of publicity challenge. The inquiry is in a sense more quantitative than qualitative, asking whether the literal and imitative or the creative elements predominate in the work. Comedy III, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 809 (footnote omitted). 209 Indeed, the rendition done by Rush is nearly identical to that in the poster distributed by Nike. Although the faces and partial body images of other famous golfers appear in blue sketch blending in the background of Rush's print, the clear focus of the work is Woods in full body image wearing his red shirt and holding his famous swing in the pose which is nearly identical to that depicted in the Nike poster. Rush's print does not depict Woods in the same vein as the other golfers, such that the focus of the print is not the Masters Tournament or the other golfers who have won the prestigious green jacket award, but that of Woods holding his famous golf swing while at that tournament. Thus, although it is apparent that Rush is an adequately skilled artist, after viewing the prints in question it is also apparent that Rush's ability in this regard is subordinated to the overall goal of creating literal, conventional depictions of [Tiger Woods] so as to exploit his ... fame [such that Rush's] right of free expression is outweighed by [Woods'] right of publicity. See id. at 811. 210 In fact, the narrative that accompanies the prints expressly discusses Woods and his fame: 211 But the center of their [other golfers'] gaze is 1997 winner Tiger Woods, here flanked by his caddie, Fluff, and final round player partner's (Constantino Rocca) caddie on right, displaying that awesome swing that sends a golf ball straighter and truer than should be humanly possible. Only his uncanny putting ability serves to complete his dominating performance that lifts him alongside the Masters of Augusta. 212 Accordingly, contrary to the majority's conclusion otherwise, it is clear that the prints gain their commercial value by exploiting the fame and celebrity status that Woods has worked to achieve. Under such facts, the right of publicity is not outweighed by the right of free expression. See Comedy III, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 126, 21 P.3d at 811 (noting that the marketability and economic value of the defendant's work was derived primarily from the fame of the three celebrities that it depicted and was therefore not protected by the First Amendment). 213 This conclusion regarding Plaintiff's right of publicity claim is in harmony with that regarding Plaintiff's claims brought under the Lanham Act. As the Restatement explains: 214 Proof of deception or confusion is not required in order to establish an infringement of the right of publicity. However, if the defendant's unauthorized use creates a false suggestion of endorsement or a likelihood of confusion as to source or sponsorship, liability may also be imposed for deceptive marketing or trademark or trade name infringement. 215 RESTATEMENT, supra § 46 cmt. b, 537. 216 Because Plaintiff has come forward with evidence of consumer confusion as to Woods' sponsorship of the products in question, it is for the jury to decide whether liability should be imposed for Plaintiff's claims brought under the Lanham Act, and this is true whether employing the balancing approach set forth in Rogers or simply employing the eight-factor test in the traditional sense. The majority's failure to do so in this case is in complete contravention to the intent of Congress, the principles of trademark law, and the well-established body of jurisprudence in this area. In addition, the jury should also be allowed to consider evidence regarding Plaintiff's federal dilution claim inasmuch as Plaintiff has proffered evidence on each element of this claim. Finally, although Plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment on its right of publicity claim, at the very least, this claim presents a question for the jury as well. 217 I therefore respectfully dissent from the majority opinion affirming summary judgment to Defendant as to all of Plaintiff's claims. Notes: 1 Contrary to the claim made by the majority in footnote 11 of its opinion, this dissent in no way suggests that the balancing test set forth in Rogers is limited to titles. Rather, it is the majority's failure to consider evidence of confusion under the eight-factor test in relation to the specific artistic expression when applying the Rogers test to which this dissent takes issue. 2 Commentators agree that the impetus behind privacy law in general was the seminal article authored by Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis, The Right to Privacy, 4 HARV. L.REV. 193, 195 (1890), where the authors contended that people had a right to be left alone. See J. THOMAS MCCARTHY, THE RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY AND PRIVACY § 1.11 (2d ed.2000). Later, Prosser and Keeton proposed the legal recognition of a right to privacy encompassing four distinct causes of action, with the fourth being the misappropriation of an individual's name or likeness, from which the right of publicity evolved. See W. PAGE KEETON ET AL., PROSSER AND KEETON ON THE LAW OF TORTS § 117, at 851-68 (5th ed.1984); see also David J. Michnal, Tiger's Paper Tiger: The Endangered Right of Publicity, 58 WASH. & LEE L.REV. 1155, 1159-160 (2001) (chronicling the evolution of publicity rights). 3 Because Ohio's right of publicity statute was enacted after the inception of this case, Plaintiff concedes that it is inapplicable here; however, Plaintiff looks to the statute by analogy as support for its common law right of publicity claim See Plaintiff's Brief on Appeal at 19-20.