Celebrity photography in trouble ?

August 9, 2007 by pmelcher.

A recent article offers a glimpse of what might be lurking in the future for a lot of editorial agencies in the US. According to this post, “At issue was whether Corbis, the online stock photography company, violated the late singer James Brown’s right of publicity by offering to license the copyright in photos of him, even though he had not consented to the use by Corbis of his name or image.”

This would be quite appropriate if the image had been sold for commercial use but it seems, according to Corbis’s defense, that it was solely for editorial. However, the judge still dismissed Corbis claim and is proceeding with the case.

A similar attempt has been made, here in New York and now in California, to try to pass a law which would severely restrict the usage of celebrity images, mostly those who have passed away. This law, if passed, would also affect any images with people in it as the definition of celebrity or famous can be used broadly.

However , if this case goes through and if Corbis looses, which quite frankly I doubt, it would be a huge blow to all celebrity photo agencies who would then have to seek rights and pay fee to license images of celebrities for editorial usage. You can just imagine the chaos. However, it could play well in the hands of big corporations who could afford to work with such a process, leaving the small ones in the dust.

Control of celebrity images is a growing concern in the United States, as this is the worlwide celebrity factory, and more and more publicist and agents are pushing for stronger legislation. But it could trickle to news coverage where a model release might be needed. A bit like the current laws in France.

This is certainly something to keep an eye on.

Full article here

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