Toni-Ann Hines’ article published by The Licensing Journal: The Right of Publicity in the Age of Technology, Social Media, and Heightened Cultural Exchange
Moore & Van Allen (MVA) Corporate Associate Toni-Ann Hines’ article titled, “The Right of Publicity in the Age of Technology, Social Media, and Heightened Cultural Exchange” was published in The Licensing Journal volume 43, number 5.
The article
Imagine you are a rising social media star. You create a video using a catchy phrase that immediately takes off. The phrase gains national, even global, attention and everyone begins using it. Now, let us say a company uses your image and your phrase without your consent to increase its relatability with the public. The company does not reach out to you to offer compensation, however, and when you reach out to them seeking some sort of acknowledgment, they state that you have no rights to your image or phrase because you are not famous, your catchphrase is not distinctive enough to serve as a trademark, and your catchphrase lacks sufficient expression to be copy-rightable.
The complete article can be viewed below.