Abstract: Can a Royal personnage be protected by the Image Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance 2012? How would one balance the rights of free speech and free press with the economic and dignitary interests of the Royal personnage? Does the European Convention on Human Rights have a role to play in this balancing act? If the Queen is not above the law, then neither should the law be beneath her. (This article was first published on 3 February 2014) Download the full insight Read More

Icondia, the Image Rights Registration specialist, is delighted to announce that it has just submitted an application for registration of the Image Rights for Guernsey Football Club (“GFC”) as a corporate personality. This represents the first registration of a football club under the Image Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance 2012 (“the IRO”). Through the registration of Image Rights, this is the first law in the world specifically written to allow ‘personality’ to become an asset, in the form intellectual property. As a result of GFC registering its personality, any unique and distinctive attributes of the club personality may receive statutory protection against the deliberate infringement and unauthorised economic exploitation of those images by others. Downloa... Read More

How would you feel if you were an actor whose performance had been hi-jacked for a film you didn't approve of and which resulted in you receiving death-threats? That's exactly the position that Cindy Lee Garcia found herself in after working on a film she thought was entitled 'Desert Warrior', but which actually turned out to be the highly controversial film 'Innocence of Muslims'. Cindy Lee Garcia, was hired to perform 4 pages of script over 3 days in an action film entitled Desert Warrior. She was not told of the film's true nature nor given a copy of the full film script. Her lines were later dubbed so that she appeared to ask whether Mohammed was a child molester. Needless to say, when the film came out she received death threats from Muslim extremists. She further claimed that she nev... Read More

Image rights involve the commercial appropriation or exploitation of a person’s identity and associated images linked to that person. They are related to the distinctive expressions, characteristics or attributes of, or associated with, a personality made available to public perception. Image rights are an integral part of artistic expression and a product of celebrity or sporting achievement in the twenty-first century. Image Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance establishes a new form of intellectual property, previously unrecognized in a registrable form. Two key concepts anchor the legislation: (1) the “registered personality”, and (2) “images” which are associated with or registered against that registered personality. The core right is the registered personality (Adrian,... Read More

Image rights involve the commercial appropriation or exploitation of a personality’s identity and associated images. In this case, we are dealing with a fish on a mission. He (?) has distinctive expressions, characteristics or attributes of, or associated with, his personality made available to public perception. Image rights are an integral part of his artistic and creative expression. This fish is a celebrity. He has a following of 5 million people (not just other fish) and has earned £35 million in 3 years. Visual image, sound bites and the cult of the celebrity are powerful forces, which can determine success or failure in nearly every aspect of public life, be it politics, performing arts or social communication of how amazing fish really is. The commoditization of image has real v... Read More

Identity is not merely a set of facts: name, location, employment, position, age, gender, or merely certain online behaviours. Some part of identity is controlled by the individual, but most of identity is created by the world in which that individual operates. We can think of identity as a streaming picture of a life within a particular context. Each of us has multiple identities (Clarke, 1994). The role of groups in shaping ‘real life’ identities is implicit, as is the multiplicity of ‘real life’ identity. Our online lives demonstrate this point. As such, each discrete identity needs protection from the new threats that arise from new technologies. The Bailiwick of Guernsey’s new Image Rights Ordinance has numerous benefits which can protect an identity both as an individual... Read More

Abstract: Does a television show have Personality? If so, could it have a right of publicity? Currently, contract law and course of trade provide the answers to these questions. Intellectual property laws have spotty and inconsistent application. The Guernsey Image Rights Ordinance may be able to provide a unique alternative. Talent shows have been used to explain how this would be possible. Download the full insight Read More

Abstract: Copyright protection fail to protect television formats, particularly reality television formats. Currently, contract law and course of trade provide protection as best as they can. The Guernsey Image Rights Ordinance may be able to step in and fill this void. Download full insight Read More

Abstract: How does the Guernsey Image Rights Ordinance interact with the US doctrine of preemption? When a state law threatens to encroach on a federal law, such as the Copyright Act, the court must consider whether the federal law preempts the state law claim. Guernsey image rights involve the commercial protection and exploitation of a person’s identity and associated images linked to that person, in a similar manner to the right of publicity. Generally, courts have found that a persona does not fall within the subject matter of copyright. The “work” that is the subject of the right of publicity is the persona, i.e., the name and likeness of a celebrity or other individual. A persona can hardly be said to constitute a “writing” of an “author” within the meaning of the Copyr... Read More

What does it mean to be a Celebrity? Or a Personality? There was a time when the answer to that question was fairly clear to most people. However, the technology boom that began during the second half of the 20th century changed all of that, and the laws regarding the protection of a person’s name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice have struggled to keep up with the evolving media in which these types of intellectual property can be exploited. In the United States, the term “right of publicity” was coined in the decision Haelan Laboratories, Inc. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 202 F.2d 866 (2d Cir. 1953). However, the first state to pass a law prohibiting the use of a living person’s “name, portrait or picture” was New York in 1903.1 Download full insight Read More