Insights

  It is Easter Week.  When Jesus rose from the dead to come back and chat with his apostles.  This is still something we crave even in modern times.  The desire to have another conversation with someone who has passed on. Avatars, chatbots, and artificial intelligence has been evolved enough to provide us with this opportunity.  What are the consequences of making Avatars of our dead loved ones? Can you capture and protect all the elements of a personality? The digital ephemera of our lives captured in pictures, video, sound, written work, social network interactions, personal data and such like can be used to recreate a personality that represents considerably more than the sum of the component parts. If we define a personality as an entity’s ability to express somethin... Read More

The Role of Image Rights to Corporate Entities - The Case of the Black Cab Most successful businesses tend to become incorporated entities. Image rights, although initially a personal concept, have expanded to encompass legal entities, and can now be treated as a separate class of intellectual property rights - one that provides a safety net to all other intellectual property rights. On November 1, 2017, the English Court of Appeal [2017] EWCA Civ 1729 rejected the London Taxi Company's (LTC) appeal against a finding that the 3D trademark and design right were invalid. The Court held that the city's famous black cabs lack distinctive character. Had the LTC registered their image rights in Guernsey under the Image Rights Ordinance 2012 (IRO), they would have been protected from the in... Read More

The following article is reproduced by kind permission of the British Monarchist Society.  It was first published in October 2014.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have threatened legal action if a certain photographer allegedly continues to stalk their son, Prince George. The position of the photographer is that he will continue to take photographs of the Prince when he is in a public area. There is a simplistic and self-serving argument that anything that the famous do is in the public interest. The genuine public interest, in terms of what is the common weal, is thus conflated with the prurience of some members of the public. Another part of this argument is that when someone is in public then they should not be able to escape the scrutiny of the media, whatever that scrutiny ex... Read More

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

Artist and alleged thief, Richard Prince, reminded us that what you post is public. It can be shared for anyone to see and, apparently, use. As a part of the Frieze Art Fair in New York, Prince displayed giant screenshots of other people’s Instagram photos without warning or permission. He then sold these prints for $90,000 apiece. Is copyright law so very flexible? This article first published here:  https://cyberlawandregulation.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/me-as-stolen-by-richard-prince/ Download the full insight. Read More

Many interested parties have posed the question how can a foreign law be upheld in the United States. The answer will be based upon a California law entitled Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgements Recognitions Act. “Instantaneous access to valuable data and information, and relatively inexpensive intercontinental transportation, combined with international commerce, have solidified the notion that we truly live in a borderless world.  Those nations that have recognized the need to guarantee fluid access to this universal system are well positioned to attract human and capital investments, precious resources in the stage of worldwide competition.  California has always been at the forefront of this new frontier.  It offers one of the most efficient, predictable and fair judicial syst... Read More

Abstract: In 2012, Guernsey established the world’s first image rights registry, allowing celebrities to commercially exploit not just their face but also their catchphrases, mannerisms and gestures. Usain Bolt[1], for example, is able to register his victory lightning pose to stop unscrupulous advertisers anywhere in the world from hawking their wares using an image of a black man in running gear pretending to be Raijin.[2] Intellectual property experts argue that current intellectual property laws fall short of protecting a person’s image and trade value. Guernsey, a major player in the wealth management industry, is well placed to implement legal structures which allow famous people an opportunity to benefit financially from their image and personality. This research will compare... Read More

Abstract Virtual worlds were once thought to be the future of e-commerce. Avatars in virtual worlds embodied your identity and were your trademark. Facebook has created a program called DeepFace which can pick a face out of crowd with close to human accuracy. Your face is your identity, can it be trademarked? Trademarks, more than other species of intellectual property, are one step further from tangible property. Every kind of intellectual property requires participants to acquire value. What makes trademarks different is that they require participants to acquire meaning. This article deals with the complex problem of creating intangible property interests in symbolic systems and online persona and whether a better means of protection would be image rights.   Download the fu... Read More

Abstract: The single most valuable intangible asset in a fashion business is the brand. It comprises between 50 – 60% of the company’s value.  The best method to capitalize on this value is to create unique images and define clear brand strategies. This is important both from a consumer point of view as well as the fashion house’s perspective. Fashionistas invest in brands. They want to be aligned with an image. How can brands garner consumer esteem? Copyright law would need to be extended to include fashion. Trademarks may not be enough protection. Guernsey’s Image Rights Ordinance and Registry may be able to solve this dilemma. Download the full insight Read More

Abstract: The Image Rights (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance establishes a new form of intellectual property,  previously unrecognised in a registrable form.  Two key concepts anchor the legislation: (1) the "registered personality" and (20) "images" which are associated with or registered against that registered personality.   The core right is the registered personality.  Mickey Mouse can now register his image and be protected forever. Reprint of an article first published in the European Intellectual Property Review,  Issue 7, 2013 Download the Full Insight   Read More