ppened was when the famous Tamil Actor Rajnikanth issued a legal notice jut before the release of his latest film “Baba” prohibiting anyone from imitating his screen persona or using the character of “Baba” for commercial gain, including by way of advertisements and imitation by mimics or television. The legal notice was published in a number of leading Tamil and English dailies the legal notice also declared that no attempt be made to use Rajnikath’s photos or sketches or attire in the film such as the red scarves, pendants etc for the purpose of endorsing products. From this a conclusion can be drawn that the actor was attempting to protect his personality rights.

In our country where Bollywod actors and cricketers have attained near cult status, the use of their images, voice etc without their permission is boun

Personality rights are also known as Publicity Rights or Right of Publicity. It is commonly defined as the right of every individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness or some other identifying aspect of identity. In common law jurisdictions publicity rights fall into the realm of the tort of passing off.

The terminology “Right of publicity” was coined by a Judge named Jerome Frank in a case of Haelar Laboratories Inc. v Topps Chewing Gum Inc. in the year 1953. Personality rights are said to be a combination of mainly two types of rights; “the right to publicity” and “the right to privacy”. The former is as regards a right of an individual to keep his/her image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission and the latter is as regards an individual’s right to be left alone and not represent ones personality publicly without permission. The concept has been adopted by many countries in the world with the United States of America being a major one.

The extent of recognition of this right in the United States of America is largely driven by Statute or case law. As the Right is State based there exists various degrees of recognition. Thus recognition varies from State to State. Twenty Eight States in the Unites States of America have recognized this concept. The State of Indiana is perhaps the most progressive as regards this concept as it provides recognition of the Right for hundred years after death of an individual and provides protection not only for name, image and likeness but also for signature, photograph, gestures, distinctive appearances and mannerisms.

Other countries worldwide too have recognized this concept. Many numerous cases are prevalent in these countries. Some of them are as follows. In New South Wales the High Court gave its decision in the case of Henderson v Radio Corp. In Australia the concept was ratified in the case of Koala Dundee .It involved the use of the famous movie character Crocodile Dundee’s name on merchandise without his permission. In September 2002, actors of worldwide fame, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman sued a luxury goods company, “Sephora”, for allegedly using a picture of them without permission in a brochure promoting perfumes. In France a recent case whereby this principle was applied was the publication of a book on Francois Mitterrand called “Le Grand Secret” by his personal doctor.

Thus from the above it is clearly seen that this concept has a worldwide appeal. Another area where this principle is applicable is as regards to sports personalities. Sport is a form of entertainment and therefore has a commercial value attached to it. While the Sports Industry in general is a revenue generating industry per se, it is the individual personalities of each sport that are often more valuable from a revenue generating perspective. Individuals like David Beckham, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Gialuigi Buffon etc. are recognized more for their cult status than their football skills. They earn a lot of money by just lending their name to various merchandise and products. Their name or their image gives a boost to the items they endorse.

In India this concept of Personality Rights has not come to be used as yet. A recent instance where something close to it happened was when the famous Tamil Actor Rajnikanth issued a legal notice jut before the release of his latest film “Baba” prohibiting anyone from imitating his screen persona or using the character of “Baba” for commercial gain, including by way of advertisements and imitation by mimics or television. The legal notice was published in a number of leading Tamil and English dailies the legal notice also declared that no attempt be made to use Rajnikath’s photos or sketches or attire in the film such as the red scarves, pendants etc for the purpose of endorsing products. From this a conclusion can be drawn that the actor was attempting to protect his personality rights.

In our country where Bollywod actors and cricketers have attained near cult status, the use of their images, voice etc without their permission is bound

eft alone and not represent ones personality publicly without permission. The concept has been adopted by many countries in the world with the United States of America being a major one.

The extent of recognition of this right in the United States of America is largely driven by Statute or case law. As the Right is State based there exists various degrees of recognition. Thus recognition varies from State to State. Twenty Eight States in the Unites States of America have recognized this concept. The State of Indiana is perhaps the most progressive as regards this concept as it provides recognition of the Right for hundred years after death of an individual and provides protection not only for name, image and likeness but also for signature, photograph, gestures, distinctive appearances and mannerisms.

Other countries worldwide too have recognized this concept. Many numerous cases are prevalent in these countries. Some of them are as follows. In New South Wales the High Court gave its decision in the case of Henderson v Radio Corp. In Australia the concept was ratified in the case of Koala Dundee .It involved the use of the famous movie character Crocodile Dundee’s name on merchandise without his permission. In September 2002, actors of worldwide fame, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman sued a luxury goods company, “Sephora”, for allegedly using a picture of them without permission in a brochure promoting perfumes. In France a recent case whereby this principle was applied was the publication of a book on Francois Mitterrand called “Le Grand Secret” by his personal doctor.

Thus from the above it is clearly seen that this concept has a worldwide appeal. Another area where this principle is applicable is as regards to sports personalities. Sport is a form of entertainment and therefore has a commercial value attached to it. While the Sports Industry in general is a revenue generating industry per se, it is the individual personalities of each sport that are often more valuable from a revenue generating perspective. Individuals like David Beckham, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Gialuigi Buffon etc. are recognized more for their cult status than their football skills. They earn a lot of money by just lending their name to various merchandise and products. Their name or their image gives a boost to the items they endorse.

In India this concept of Personality Rights has not come to be used as yet. A recent instance where something close to it happened was when the famous Tamil Actor Rajnikanth issued a legal notice jut before the release of his latest film “Baba” prohibiting anyone from imitating his screen persona or using the character of “Baba” for commercial gain, including by way of advertisements and imitation by mimics or television. The legal notice was published in a number of leading Tamil and English dailies the legal notice also declared that no attempt be made to use Rajnikath’s photos or sketches or attire in the film such as the red scarves, pendants etc for the purpose of endorsing products. From this a conclusion can be drawn that the actor was attempting to protect his personality rights.

In our country where Bollywod actors and cricketers have attained near cult status, the use of their images, voice etc without their permission is boun

ountries worldwide too have recognized this concept. Many numerous cases are prevalent in these countries. Some of them are as follows. In New South Wales the High Court gave its decision in the case of Henderson v Radio Corp. In Australia the concept was ratified in the case of Koala Dundee .It involved the use of the famous movie character Crocodile Dundee’s name on merchandise without his permission. In September 2002, actors of worldwide fame, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman sued a luxury goods company, “Sephora”, for allegedly using a picture of them without permission in a brochure promoting perfumes. In France a recent case whereby this principle was applied was the publication of a book on Francois Mitterrand called “Le Grand Secret” by his personal doctor.

Thus from the above it is clearly seen that this concept has a worldwide appeal. Another area where this principle is applicable is as regards to sports personalities. Sport is a form of entertainment and therefore has a commercial value attached to it. While the Sports Industry in general is a revenue generating industry per se, it is the individual personalities of each sport that are often more valuable from a revenue generating perspective. Individuals like David Beckham, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Gialuigi Buffon etc. are recognized more for their cult status than their football skills. They earn a lot of money by just lending their name to various merchandise and products. Their name or their image gives a boost to the items they endorse.

In India this concept of Personality Rights has not come to be used as yet. A recent instance where something close to it happened was when the famous Tamil Actor Rajnikanth issued a legal notice jut before the release of his latest film “Baba” prohibiting anyone from imitating his screen persona or using the character of “Baba” for commercial gain, including by way of advertisements and imitation by mimics or television. The legal notice was published in a number of leading Tamil and English dailies the legal notice also declared that no attempt be made to use Rajnikath’s photos or sketches or attire in the film such as the red scarves, pendants etc for the purpose of endorsing products. From this a conclusion can be drawn that the actor was attempting to protect his personality rights.

In our country where Bollywod actors and cricketers have attained near cult status, the use of their images, voice etc without their permission is boun

ncept has a worldwide appeal. Another area where this principle is applicable is as regards to sports personalities. Sport is a form of entertainment and therefore has a commercial value attached to it. While the Sports Industry in general is a revenue generating industry per se, it is the individual personalities of each sport that are often more valuable from a revenue generating perspective. Individuals like David Beckham, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Gialuigi Buffon etc. are recognized more for their cult status than their football skills. They earn a lot of money by just lending their name to various merchandise and products. Their name or their image gives a boost to the items they endorse.

In India this concept of Personality Rights has not come to be used as yet. A recent instance where something close to it happened was when the famous Tamil Actor Rajnikanth issued a legal notice jut before the release of his latest film “Baba” prohibiting anyone from imitating his screen persona or using the character of “Baba” for commercial gain, including by way of advertisements and imitation by mimics or television. The legal notice was published in a number of leading Tamil and English dailies the legal notice also declared that no attempt be made to use Rajnikath’s photos or sketches or attire in the film such as the red scarves, pendants etc for the purpose of endorsing products. From this a conclusion can be drawn that the actor was attempting to protect his personality rights.

In our country where Bollywod actors and cricketers have attained near cult status, the use of their images, voice etc without their permission is boun

ppened was when the famous Tamil Actor Rajnikanth issued a legal notice jut before the release of his latest film “Baba” prohibiting anyone from imitating his screen persona or using the character of “Baba” for commercial gain, including by way of advertisements and imitation by mimics or television. The legal notice was published in a number of leading Tamil and English dailies the legal notice also declared that no attempt be made to use Rajnikath’s photos or sketches or attire in the film such as the red scarves, pendants etc for the purpose of endorsing products. From this a conclusion can be drawn that the actor was attempting to protect his personality rights.

In our country where Bollywod actors and cricketers have attained near cult status, the use of their images, voice etc without their permission is bound to happen. Furthermore in a cutthroat business environment, every one is trying to get an edge to get a slice of the market. In such a situation the introduction of the Personality Rights principle is one which is most urgently required. It is high time that the authorities in India realized the same and introduced this concept at the earliest.

Verghese Mathews Symbiosis Society's Law College