INTRODUCTION
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a celebrity is a well-known individual, particularly one from the arts or sports. An individual may get this by birth, his or her abilities, or intelligence. The phrase “celebritatem” in Latin, from which the word derives, refers to the state of being famous. We all know that the definition of the word “celebrity” now encompasses a larger range of people, including both renowned and despised figures like actors, politicians, athletes, magicians, songsters, cotillion, all types of artists, as well as defamed individuals, scam artists, terrorists, etc.
LAWS RELATING MARKS
The term “mark” covers things like identities, abbreviations, autographs, noises, etc. Film names and titles are protected by trademark laws in India. Each of these characteristics identifies a source, which can be protected as a trademark and whose economic use is subject to regulation. Occasionally, celebrities create their own “lines” or brands independently or in partnership with an entity.
LAWS RELATED TO COPYRIGHT
There is no definition or definitional concept of “Celebrity” in the Indian Copyright Act. The Indian Copyright Act, however, defines a “Performer” under Section 2 (qq). There are some rights attached to these performers who can be categorised as celebrities. Even if a celebrity author’s book isn’t original, copyright law protects such work.
PERSONALITY RIGHTS
Image rights are a part of publicity rights, which are a subset of personality rights. It outlines the monetary value of any image or other representation of the individual whose notoriety and reputation could be abused by someone. Only people who are famous, or celebrities, who can be used for commercial gain through the use of their goodwill and reputation, are granted this right, which derives from the Right to Privacy. Celebrities’ right to their individuality is violated by any form of unauthorised commercial exploitation because they earned their notoriety and renown through their labour.
PUBLICITY RIGHTS
The publicity rights can be discussed as follows,
- Components of an individual’s public image that rights to publicity safeguard
- The Constitution’s recognition of the right to privacy gives people the option of permitting to use of all data about them and their lives that is not already public knowledge.
- Information on a person that is made public is guaranteed to be accurate and limited in scope. A person’s name, image, likeness, and distinctive traits are protected by the Trademarks Act of 1999. The Act’s Section 14 forbids the use of personal names.
- A person’s literary, artistic, photographic, musical, and dramatic works are protected by the Copyright Act of 1957. Protection is provided for these categories as well if a claim is made that demonstrates that in addition to violating copyright, it also infringes publicity and personality rights.
CELEBRITY RIGHTS: AN INDIAN VIEW
The Trademark Laws provide some limited protection for a celebrity’s image. There is no particular provision in the Trademarks Act of 1999 that protects image and puffery rights. However, names are included in the Act’s Section 2(m) designation of a “mark.”
Celebrities rely on passing off as a legal remedy to protect their media exposure and picture rights. To apply the remedy from passing off, an individual’s report must have been misrepresented in a way that resulted in irreparable harm to the material in connection with the goods or services. The said act also recognises actors as entertainers and grants them the protection of entertainers’ rights, although it only refers to the actors’ live performances and does not recognise performing in cinematographic flickers as an entertainer’s activity. Sportspeople who fall under the definition of entertainers will still have their impalpable rights protected, but only to the extent that their performance is contorted, mutilated, or otherwise altered. This is because entertainers’ rights protect the fat, moral, and inalienable rights of entertainers, but they are limited to that performance and nothing more.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Every person has the right to be in charge of how their life and image are presented to the outside world. Except with his or her approval, they should have sole control over how his or her identity is used commercially. It is appropriate to respect equally the logic and emotion about a person’s dignity. Modern media has surpassed its significance, leading to previously unheard-of exposure and discovery. According to this perspective, a celebrity is someone whose personality traits are well-known to the general public and who has a high market value.
EXPLOITATION OF CELEBRITIES
Celebrities are more vulnerable to exploitation through misappropriation, misrepresentation, and defamation as a result of rapid digitalization and widespread accessibility. An essential component of protection in the digital age is the worldwide recognition of publicity right as an intellectual property right in conjunction with the protection of privacy rights. This essay makes a modest attempt to offer a comparative examination of judicial tendencies and legal frameworks for the protection of celebrity rights in the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. The right to publicity barely started to develop from being almost non-existent to being largely recognised today 50 years ago.
A lack of protection for the right of publicity is currently being re-evaluated in both common law and civil law countries as celebrity and sports star endorsements cross international borders.18 The right to publicity is expanding, as seen below, yet there are significant discrepancies in how it is treated and protected by different governments around the world.
CONCLUSION
Simply put, secondary rights are allowed to prevent public performances, broadcasts, or recordings made without the troupe member’s consent and to allow impartial payment. Therefore, despite the existence of economic rights, there are no moral rights. ‘Substantial similarity’ security, which is a requirement for protecting celebrity rights, is not provided. It is simply possible to correct this rising issue by moving forward. Huge fines and multimillion-dollar deals may deter future infractions by individuals who have previously failed to respect the privacy of companies and celebrities.
REFERENCE LINKS:
- Girija Ambaskar, “Celebrity rights under IPR”, iPleader, available at: https://blog.ipleaders.in/celebrity-rights-under-ipr/ (last visited 9 July 2023).
- Saathi Mukharjee, “Celebrity Rights: Protection under Intellectual Property Rights”, Legal Service India, available at: https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-7890-celebrity-rights-protection-under-intellectual-property-rights.html (last visited 9 July 2023).
- Alvin Antony, “India: Celebrity Rights – Is It Important in India?”, Mondaq, available at: https://www.mondaq.com/india/trademark/777368/celebrity-rights-is-it-important-in-india (last visited 9 July 2023).
Author’s Name – Vaishnavi Parate
