The Right of Publicity Commercial Exploitation of the Associative Value of Personality

Abstract

This article argues that the interest embraced by the right of publicity, a function of the societal recognition that commercial value may be associated with the persona of celebrity, should serve as the primary tool for shaping the form and content of the right. Policy determinations, balancing that individual interest against other, more general, public interests, may then serve to set the boundaries of protectability.