Commentary

Trademarks are an aspect of corporate personality. Image rights involve the commercial appropriation or exploitation of a personality’s identity and associated images. Amazon and other search engines use these names and images as “Adwords” to encourage consumers to click on related items. This, in turn, diminishes the value of a trademark and causes it to become too closely associated with a certain class of goods. In Cosmetic Warriors Limited & Lush Limited v Amazon.co.uk Limited & Amazon EU SARL, [2014] EWHC 181 (Ch), the Judge found Amazon had infringed the registered Community Trade Mark for “LUSH” under Article 5(1)(a) of Directive 2008/95/EC. The infringement stemmed from Amazon’s directing consumers to the sale of equivalent products to those sold by Lush thro... 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

While the outcome of Rihanna’s recent battle with Topshop[1] may have been a surprise to many, it did not create any new law. Indeed the decision of Mr Justice Birss reiterated established principles of English law, and highlighted its limitations when it comes to preventing the unauthorised use of celebrity images: “[T]oday in England [there is] no such thing as a free standing general right by a famous person (or anyone else) to control the reproduction of their image”. Rihanna succeeded in her complaint based on Topshop’s sale of a t-shirt bearing her picture, but the grounds for her victory were very fact-specific: Rihanna was a recognised style-icon, with whom Topshop had fostered an association, and the picture resembled a publicity shot for a then-recent musical release.... Read More