Opinion ID: 1431414
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: privacy or publicity

Text: The common law right of privacy creates a cause of action for an interference with the right of the plaintiff ... `to be let alone.' (Prosser, Privacy (1960) 48 Cal.L.Rev. 383, 389.) [9] The gist of the cause of action in a privacy case is ... a direct wrong of a personal character resulting in injury to the feelings ... of the individual.... The injury is mental and subjective. It impairs the mental peace and comfort of the person and may cause suffering much more acute than that caused by a bodily injury. ( Fairfield v. American Photocopy Equipment Co. (1955) 138 Cal. App.2d 82, 86-87 [291 P.2d 194]. See Gill v. Curtis Publishing Co. (1952) 38 Cal.2d 273, 276-278 [239 P.2d 630]; Hofstadter & Horowitz, The Right of Privacy (1964) § 1.1; Warren & Brandeis, The Right to Privacy (1890) 4 Harv.L.Rev. 193.) Since the right of privacy developed to protect an individual from certain injuries to his feelings and assaults on his peace of mind, he need not suffer any injury to his property, business or economic interests as a prerequisite to initiating a suit for an invasion of privacy. ( Fairfield v. American Photocopy Equipment Co., supra, 138 Cal. App.2d at p. 86.) The appropriation of an individual's likeness for another's commercial advantage often intrudes on interests distinctly different than those protected by the right of privacy. Plaintiffs in this case have not objected to the manner in which Universal used Lugosi's likeness nor claimed any mental distress from such use. Rather, plaintiffs have asserted that Universal reaped an economic windfall from Lugosi's enterprise to which they are rightfully entitled. Today, it is commonplace for individuals to promote or advertise commercial services and products or, as in the present case, even have their identities infused in the products. Individuals prominent in athletics, business, entertainment and the arts, for example, are frequently involved in such enterprises. When a product's promoter determines that the commercial use of a particular person will be advantageous, the promoter is often willing to pay handsomely for the privilege. As a result, the sale of one's persona in connection with the promotion of commercial products has unquestionably become big business. (See Note, Lugosi v. Universal Pictures: Descent of the Right of Publicity (1978) 29 Hastings L.J. 751; Nimmer, The Right of Publicity (1954) 19 Law & Contemp. Prob. 203, 204, 215-216; Treece, Commercial Exploitation of Names, Likenesses, and Personal Histories (1973) 51 Texas L.Rev. 637, 646.) Such commercial use of an individual's identity is intended to increase the value or sales of the product by fusing the celebrity's identity with the product and thereby siphoning some of the publicity value or good will in the celebrity's persona into the product. This use is premised, in part, on public recognition and association with that person's name or likeness, or an ability to create such recognition. The commercial value of a particular person's identity thus primarily depends on that person's public visibility and the characteristics for which he or she is known. ( Uhlaender v. Hendricksen (D.Minn. 1970) 316 F. Supp. 1277, 1283.) 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. (See Rosemont Enterprises, Inc. v. Urban Systems, Inc. (1973) 72 Misc.2d 788 [340 N.Y.S.2d 144, 146], affd. as mod. 42 App.Div.2d 544 [345 N.Y.S.2d 17]; Nimmer, supra, 19 Law & Contemp. Prob. at p. 216.) For some, the investment may eventually create considerable commercial value in one's identity. In this context, the marketable product of that labor is the ability of a person's name or likeness to attract the attention and evoke a desired response in a particular consumer audience. That response is a kind of good will or recognition value generated by that person. (See Ali v. Playgirl, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 1978) 447 F. Supp. 723, 728-729; Grant v. Esquire, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 1973) 367 F. Supp. 876, 879.) While this product is concededly intangible, it is not illusory. An unauthorized commercial appropriation of one's identity converts the potential economic value in that identity to another's advantage. The user is enriched, reaping one of the benefits of the celebrity's investment in himself. (See Palmer v. Schonhorn Enterprises, Inc. (1967) 96 N.J. Super. 72 [232 A.2d 458, 462]; Kalven, Privacy in Tort Law  Were Warren and Brandeis Wrong? (1966) 31 Law & Contemp. Prob. 326, 331.) The loss may well exceed the mere denial of compensation for the use of the individual's identity. The unauthorized use disrupts the individual's effort to control his public image, and may substantially alter that image. The individual may be precluded from future promotions in that as well as other fields. Further, while a judicious involvement in commercial promotions may have been perceived as an important ingredient in one's career, uncontrolled exposure may be dysfunctional. As a result, the development of his initial vocation  his profession  may be arrested. (See Treece, supra, 51 Texas L.Rev. at pp. 642-646.) Finally, if one's identity is exploited without permission to promote products similar to those which the individual has already endorsed, the unauthorized use resembles unfair competition. While the product which first used the celebrity paid for the privilege of trading on his publicity value, the second product has secured a costless endorsement. The simultaneous presence in the market of these competing products may cause the latter to be mistaken for the former and will probably diminish the value of the endorsement. (See Factors Etc., Inc. v. Creative Card Co. (S.D.N.Y. 1977) 444 F. Supp. 279, 283.) Accordingly, the gravamen of the harm flowing from an unauthorized commercial use of a prominent individual's likeness [10] in most cases is the loss of potential financial gain, not mental anguish. (See Motschenbacher v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (9th Cir.1974) 498 F.2d 821, 824; Prosser, supra, 48 Cal.L.Rev. at p. 406; Comment, Transfer of the Right of Publicity: Dracula's Progency and Privacy's Stepchild (1975) 22 UCLA L.Rev. 1103, 1104, fn. 8.) [11] The fundamental objection is not that the commercial use is offensive, but that the individual has not been compensated. Indeed, the representation of the person will most likely be flattering, since it is in the user's interest to project a positive image. The harm to feelings, if any, is usually minimal. (See Note, Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company: Media Appropriation, the First Amendment and State Regulation (1977) Utah L.Rev. 817, 818-819.) The individual's interest thus threatened by most unauthorized commercial uses is significantly different than the personal interests protected under the right of privacy. Recognition of this difference has prompted independent judicial protection for this economic interest. The individual's interest in the commercial value of his identity has been regarded as proprietary in nature [12] and sometimes denominated a common law right of publicity. [13] This right has won increasing judicial recognition, [14] as well as endorsements by legal commentators. [15] The right of publicity has been regarded as the right of each person to control and profit from the publicity values which he has created or purchased. (Nimmer, supra, 19 Law & Contemp. Prob. at p. 216. See Note, supra, 25 UCLA L.Rev. at p. 1097.) The distinctive aspect of the common law right of publicity is that it recognizes the commercial value of the picture or representation of a prominent person or performer, and protects his proprietary interest in the profitability of his public reputation or `persona.' ( Ali v. Playgirl, Inc., supra, 447 F. Supp. at p. 728.) Two leading decisions are illustrative. In Haelan Laboratories, Inc. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., supra, 202 F.2d 866, plaintiff, which had an exclusive contract with a baseball player to use the player's photograph in connection with the sale of plaintiff's chewing gum, sued to prevent defendant's similar use of the player's photograph. The viability of plaintiff's lawsuit depended on the court's determination of the player's interest in his own likeness: if the player's interest consisted only of the right of privacy, plaintiff could not maintain its action since the player's right was incapable of assignment. Applying New York law, the federal court of appeals found that in addition to a statutory right to privacy, each person had an enforceable right in the publicity value of his photograph, a right of publicity. Unlike the personal right of privacy, such interest could be transferred `in gross,' i.e., without any accompanying transfer of a business or of anything else.... [¶] ... For it is common knowledge that many prominent persons (especially actors and ball-players), far from having their feelings bruised through public exposure of their likenesses, would feel sorely deprived if they no longer received money for authorizing advertisements, popularizing their countenances, displayed in newspapers, magazines, busses, trains and subways. This right of publicity would usually yield them no money unless it could be made the subject of an exclusive grant which barred any other advertiser from using their pictures. ( Id., at p. 868.) Accordingly, the court held that plaintiff's claim had been improperly dismissed. Price v. Hal Roach Studios, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 1975) 400 F. Supp. 836 involved a controversy remarkably similar to the present case. Plaintiffs were the widows of Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy (Laurel and Hardy) and a corporation with a contract for the exclusive right to use and merchandise Laurel's and Hardy's names, likenesses and characterizations. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants, owners of the copyright to certain Laurel and Hardy motion pictures, had misappropriated the names and likenesses of the two deceased comedians for commercial merchandising purposes. The court, citing Haelan, held that Laurel and Hardy had had a property right in the use of their names and likenesses during their lifetimes completely separate from the right of privacy. Further, their right of publicity was held to descend to their respective wives upon death, without regard to whether either exploited his right to publicity during his lifetime. ( Id., at pp. 843-844, 846.) [16] Accordingly, notwithstanding defendants' interest in certain Laurel and Hardy motion pictures, plaintiffs were held to be entitled to damages and injunctive relief for defendants' unauthorized commercial use of Laurel's and Hardy's rights of publicity. Underlying these decisions is a recognition that each person has a right to enjoy the fruits of his own industry, the right to decide how and when the commercial value in his identity will be exploited. ( Uhlaender v. Hendricksen, supra, 316 F. Supp. at p. 1282. See Nimmer, supra, 19 Law & Contemp. Prob. at p. 216; Note, supra, 1977 Utah L.Rev. at p. 818.) [17] When one makes an unauthorized use of another's identity for his own commercial advantage, he is unjustly enriched, having usurped both profit and control of that individual's public image. [18] Further, there is a broader social objective implicit in according judicial protection to the right of publicity, analogous to the policies underlying copyright and patent law. The Supreme Court recently described the purpose of granting copyright protection as encouraging people to devote themselves to intellectual and artistic creation ..., and thereby secure the benefits of such labors for the entire society. ( Goldstein v. California (1973) 412 U.S. 546, 555 [37 L.Ed.2d 163, 173, 93 S.Ct. 2303]. See 1 Nimmer on Copyright (1978) § 1.03[A].) Similarly, providing legal protection for the economic value in one's identity against unauthorized commercial exploitation creates a powerful incentive for expending time and resources to develop the skills or achievements prerequisite to public recognition and assures that the individual will be able to reap the reward of his endeavors.... ( Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., supra, 433 U.S. at p. 573 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 975].) While the immediate beneficiaries are those who establish professions or identities which are commercially valuable, the products of their enterprise are often beneficial to society generally. Their performances, inventions and endeavors enrich our society, while their participation in commercial enterprises may communicate valuable information to consumers. (See id., at pp. 576-577 [53 L.Ed.2d at pp. 976-977]; Note, supra, 29 Hastings L.J. at pp. 767-768; Note, Human Cannonballs and the First Amendment: Zachini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1978) 30 Stan.L.Rev. 1185, 1186, fn. 7.) [19] The reasons for affording independent protection for the economic value in one's identity are substantial and compelling, as attested by the increasing number of jurisdictions which have done so. (See fn. 14, ante. ) [20] I am similarly persuaded that an individual's right of publicity is entitled to the law's protection. [21] The common law can readily accommodate judicial recognition of the right of publicity. `The rules of the common law are continually changing and expanding with the progress of the society in which it prevails. It does not lag behind, but adapts itself to the conditions of the present so that the ends of justice may be reached.' ( Johnston v. 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. (1947) 82 Cal. App.2d 796, 815 [187 P.2d 474].) Specifically, this court has long recognized that the concept of property is not static but changes to accommodate creative developments and novel legal relationships. [22] For example, courts have recognized protectible interests in trademarks ( Derringer v. Plate (1865) 29 Cal. 292, 294-295; Hall v. Holstrom (1930) 106 Cal. App. 563, 568 [289 P. 668]), titles of literary works ( Jackson v. Universal International Pictures, Inc. (1950) 36 Cal.2d 116 [222 P.2d 433]; Johnston v. 20th Century-Fox Films Corp., supra, 82 Cal. App.2d 796), the collection and dissemination of news ( International News Service v. Associated Press (1918) 248 U.S. 215 [63 L.Ed. 211, 39 S.Ct. 68, 2 A.L.R. 293]), and ideas communicated in confidence or in reasonable expectation of consideration (see Davies v. Krasna (1975) 14 Cal.3d 502, 506, fn. 3 [121 Cal. Rptr. 705, 535 P.2d 1161, 79 A.L.R.3d 807] [cases collected]; Components For Research, Inc. v. Isolation Products, Inc. (1966) 241 Cal. App.2d 726, 730 [50 Cal. Rptr. 829]). The right of publicity is entitled to similar treatment. [23] (See Nimmer, supra, 19 Law & Contemp. Prob. at p. 223.) Universal argues that judicial recognition of an independent right of publicity is unnecessary in light of the adequate protection afforded under the common law right of privacy. However, the interest at stake in most commercial appropriation cases is ill-suited to protection under the umbrella of the right of privacy. First, the raison d'etre of the common law right of privacy is protection against assaults on one's feelings; an unauthorized commercial appropriation usually precipitates only economic loss, not mental anguish. [24] Second, since the representation of the individual is often flattering, substantial linguistic acrobatics are required to construct a privacy claim on the ground that the use is offensive to a reasonable person. (See Note, supra, 1977 Utah L.Rev. at pp. 818-819. Cf. Briscoe v. Reader's Digest Association, Inc., supra, 4 Cal.3d at pp. 541, 543.) Third, if information about a person is already in the public domain, there can be no claim for an invasion of privacy; to that extent, the right of privacy has been waived. Yet it is publicity which frequently creates value in the individual's identity. To deny a claim for damages for commercial misappropriation because the claimant is prominent is to deny the right to the very individuals to whom the right is most valuable. [25] Fourth, if treated as an aspect of privacy, the use of one's identity for commercial purposes may not be assigned because privacy is a personal, nonassignable right. (See fn. 8, ante. ) Such a limitation precludes transferring this economic interest, thereby substantially diminishing its value. (See Nimmer, supra, 19 Law & Contemp. Prob. at pp. 209-210; Haelan Laboratories, Inc. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., supra, 202 F.2d at p. 868.) In short, conforming a claim for the misappropriation of the commercial value in one's identity to the requirements of the right of privacy requires a procrustean jurisprudence.