Reply #9: Actually, it's a little different [View All]

[Dogmudgeon]

People do, in fact, have the right to control the use of their likeness. In legal theory, one "owns" one's likeness. The Supreme Court has carved out many exceptions for journalism and to protect First Amendment rights. But I believe that the legal principle itself is part of American common law. In most cases, the context of the use of the likeness is the determining factor.

Using a photo of JFK from the official archives is a public domain use; a photo from Time magazine requires the permission of the copyright holder, but the copyright holder usually does not require the subject's approval; if you wanted to sell t-shirts with the likeness of JFK, you would probably have to negotiate with JFK's survivor(s), in this case, Caroline Kennedy alone.

I regret that I can not provide relevant case law citations; this is a pretty big area of intellectual property law and my knowledge of it was acquired through lay reading. It's one of those nuts-and-bolts technically dense areas of the law. If you want to use someone's likeness, especially for business or mass-media purposes, you are best advised to seek professional counsel, and you should certainly NOT depend on my synopsis.

Hope this helps -- but, yes indeed, it's a big field.

--p!