Rethinking the Right of Publicity in the Context of Social Media

Abstract

This paper, inspired by a tweet by Chevy (the maker of Corvette) after Prince's death in 2016, explores whether current case law on the right of publicity provides helpful guidance for corporate speakers when the speech refers to a person. In particular, the article looks at the relationship between "commercial use" of a person's name or likeness and the "commercial speech" doctrine; evaluates the ways corporations speak via social media; and suggests ways to think about corporate social media messages to protection speech that otherwise would be protected by the First Amendment.

Keywords: Right of Publicity, Jordan v. Jewell-Osco, commercial speech, commercial use, social media, Twitter