Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal Volume 36 | Number 2 Article 4 1-1-2014 Celebrity Politicians and Publicity Rights in the Age of Obama Michael G. Bennett Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_comm_ent_law_journal Part of the Communications Law Commons, Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, and the Intellectual Property Law Commons Recommended Citation Michael G. Bennett, Celebrity Politicians and Publicity Rights in the Age of Obama, 36 Hastings Comm. & Ent. L.J. 339 (2014). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol36/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Celebrity Politicians and Publicity Rights in the Age of Obama by MICHAEL G. BENNETT Abstract The right of publicity is a relatively marginalized yet increasingly radical form of intellectual property. Typically, celebrities use it to prevent freeloaders from profiting on their fame by making unauthorized use of their image, likeness or signature to make goods or services more attractive to consumers. The right of publicity allows famous individuals to stop this type of behavior by providing a property right in identity or persona. Brandished by celebrities who are also political figures, though, the doctrine can become a powerful means of chilling political speech, and therefore a direct threat to First Amendment free speech rights. The descriptive goal of this article is to explain how publicity rights can cause problems in the context of political figures that also have celebrity status.