Stuart Freen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama found himself in a strange place: Plastered across a 30-foot billboard in Times Square, hawking rain coats. The Weatherproof advertisement depicted a bold-looking Obama walking along the Great Wall of China with his hands dug into the pockets […]
Alex Gloor is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. A recent District Court decision out of California dismissed the case of NFL Hall of Fame player Jim Brown against video games giant Electronic Arts (EA), producers of the popular Madden football series. Mr. Brown alleged that EA misappropriated his "name, identity and likeness" […]
In this blog, I examine the ambit of protection given to personality rights in Canadian law. I focus, in particular, on the common law tort of appropriation of personality. The tort was first articulated by the Ontario Court of Appeal in Krouse v. Chrysler Canada Ltd., (1973), 1 O.R. (2d) 225 (Ont. C.A.) It allows […]
Last year, writer/director/actor Woody Allen launched a $10 million suit against clothing maker and retailer American Apparel over their unauthorized use of his image on a billboard advertisement. The trial is set to go before a jury on May 18th. However, on April 15th it was reported that Allen brought an additional complaint to the court […]
For the past year and a half, one political figure has evoked much publicity around the world that very few celebrities or politicians have enjoyed during their whole life. This political figure is the newly elected U.S. president, Barack Obama. The Obama craze has resulted in, what Megan Boler calls, a ‘merchandising mayhem’. In the U.S., […]
Celebrity "news" programs seem to fill the channels on our televisions at all times of the day. Magazine racks are weighted down with the latest celebrity gossip. Companies regularly hire celebrity spokespersons to "hawk their wares" in infomercials and advertisements. Is it any wonder that these celebrities are determined to control the use of their […]
Paris Hilton filed a complaint against Hallmark on September 6, 2007 for the greeting card pictured above. Hilton alleges Hallmark knowingly and without her consent (i) commercially appropriated her identity; (ii) invaded her privacy by using her name and likeness; (iii) misappropriated publicity, and; (iv) falsely represented that the card was associated with her or […]