Re: Rights in real characters

Bob Panzer <bigbusie[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
>
> So if you can't put the President's face on an ad for shoes or coffee,
> it would seem reasonable to assume you can't put his face on a t-shirt
> or mugs without his permission. Further, it would seem correct that
> in a movie you cannot use the president giving a speech (especially
> in a changed and out of context way) to help move a movie plot or
> concept forward no more than you could use Michael Jackson. Something
> about this doesn't seem right, but I can't nail it down.

You've made a jump there that I don't follow. The fact that you can't use someone's image (without permission) in an ad or on (what would normally be licensed) merchandise does not lead to the conclusion that you can't use the person's image in a movie--a First Amendment protected work of imaginative art. I believe they should have gotten permission; but I'm not sure that their failure to do so gives rise to an action on the President's part, and I'm not sure it would on Michael Jackson's, either.

Bob Cumbow
<cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> Received on Fri Aug 08 1997 - 16:16:41 GMT