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The Legal Principles Of New York Legislature

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Outline:
I. Intro
a. Background It is no secret that dead celebrities sell. In many cases certain celebrities could rack in more bucks after their death than they did before it. But who gets this money? New York legislature knows this is an issue, and they are proposing a bill, S.5650/A.709, that calls for statutory right of publicity for the deceased. This bill, if passed, would extend the right of publicity for 70 years after death for anyone- not just celebrities. This would mean the name, voice, signature, image or likeness illustrating any person who was a resident of New York before they died would require a valid federal copyright and the permission from their heirs for use for “commercial purpose.” It protects artistic and creative works and allows books, plays, magazines, newspapers, music, film, radio, television and other media to use a living or deceased individual’s name or likeness in a range of fictional and non-fictional works.
b. Legal Principles Involved
II. Arguments
a. Argument for The expressive use exception has a “caveat” and it is not available if it meets three conditions: “the work does not contain an image or likeness that is primarily commercial, not transformative and is not otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or New York Constitution.” The “caveat” to the expressive use exception will have a substantial chilling effect on First Amendment protected speech by increasing the likelihood that publishers,

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