Protection of Celebrity Rights – The Problems and the Solutions

Abstract

Celebrity rights are unique rights, which are distinct from others. It is a form of property, which can be exclusively enjoyed by the celebrity himself. Being a property, it is also susceptible to unauthorized trespasses. This ‘trespass’ takes place mainly in two ways- when the privacy of the celebrity is sought to be compromised for the sake of money, and secondly, when the celebrity’s right to publicity is defeated by its unauthorized use. Both the situations require law and the judiciary to intervene and ensure justice. In the absence of any specific regulatory mechanism to address these issues, it often becomes difficult to protect various celebrity rights like personality/moral rights, privacy rights & the publicity/merchandising right. In India, there is no specific legal remedy for infringement of celebrity rights. Thus the authors identified merits and demerits of various approaches, which protect the publicity rights of a celebrity and recommended appropriate legal regime suited to India.