Commercialising Celebrity Persona: Intellectual Property Law and Practice

This book investigates the commercialisation of celebrity persona in the UK, New York, and California. Interviews with 68 practitioners across the advertising, merchandising, film, and video game industries provide insight on the differences in approaches across jurisdictions, as well as the similarities caused by non-legal factors. Furthermore, the book addresses the developments in technology, social media, and social norms that have made collaboration attractive to maintain favour with fans.

The book considers how the extension of passing off in the UK to include persona rights impacts the dispute resolution and transactional spheres involved in the commercialisation of persona. It compares the industry landscape to that of the US where the right of publicity has been recognised since 1953 and has gone as far as to protect ’identity’. The book argues that nonlegal factors significantly impact the commercialisation of persona across the jurisdictions and interact with the law to encourage permission-based behaviours. However, there remains a divergence in the dispute resolution sphere.

Anyone who is interested in the multi-million dollar business of celebrities as assets will benefit from this book.

Emma Perot is Lecturer in Law at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.