Owning Personality: The Expanding Right of Publicity

October 19, 2018

Columbia Law School

Recommended Readings

This year’s Kernochan Center symposium focused on the right of publicity. This right has a complex history, and the patchwork of state laws currently in place do not provide clarity. In addition, many states which have had no such right, or a limited right, are now contemplating more extensive legislation in this area. Our full-day conference looked not only at the historical contours of the right of publicity, but also at its normative goals. Panels focused on how such a right is best crafted, including what uses should be exempted from its scope, and delved into other areas of the law implicated by publicity and privacy statutes.

Session I: Welcome and Keynote with Commentary

9:00-9:15        Welcome

9:15- 10:45     Session I:  Keynote and Commentary                      

Keynote:

Jennifer Rothman

Professor of Law and Joseph Scott Fellow, Loyola Law School

Commentary:

Stacey Dogan

Professor of Law, BU School of Law

10:45-11:00    Break

Session II: Term, Breadth and Waivability

11:00-12:30    Session II: Term, Breadth and Waivability

Moderator: 

June Besek, Esq. Executive Director, Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts

Panel:

Mark Roesler, Esq.

CEO, CMG Worldwide  

Jeremy Sheff

Professor of Law and Director, Intellectual Property Law Center, St. John’s University

Mark McKenna

John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law, Notre Dame University Law School

Ben Sheffner, Esq.

MPAA, Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel for Copyright & Legal Affairs

Sarah Howes, Esq.

Director and Counsel, Government Affairs and Public Policy at SAG-AFTRA​

12:30-1:30      Lunch (Provided)

Session III: Exemptions, Limitations and Territoriality

1:30-3:00        Session III: Exemptions, Limitations and Territoriality

Moderator:

Pippa Loengard, Esq. Deputy Director, Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts

Panel:

Jessica Silbey

Professor of Law and Co-Director, Center for Law, Innovation and Creativity, Northeastern University School of Law

David G. Post

I. Herman Stern Professor of Law, Beasley School of Law, Temple University (Ret.)

Frederick Sperling, Esq.

Partner, Schiff Hardin LLP

Patrick Kabat, Esq.

Director, First Amendment, Media, & Entertainment-Law Practicum, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law​

3:00-3:15        Break

Session IV: Overlap with Other Areas of Law

3:15-4:45       Session IV:  Overlap with Other Areas of Law

Moderator:

Jane Ginsburg, Faculty Director, Kernochan Center and Morton Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property

Panel:

Cynthia Arato, Esq.

Partner, Shapiro Arato LLP

Danielle Citron

Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Barton Beebe

John M. Desmarais Professor of Intellectual Property Law, NYU

Mitchell Gans

Rivkin Radler Distinguished Professor of Law, Hofstra Law School