In response to the recent, heartbreaking death of Prince, the government of his native Minnesota is looking to pass a ‘Prince Act’ to protect the image of the late pop icon and other artists.
Put before the state legislature on May 9th, the Personal Rights in Names Can Endure Act (informally known as the Prince Act), would grant publicity control to Prince’s estate, preventing any unauthorised use of his image for commercial gain.
Prince maintained and resided in Minnesota’s Paisley Park Studios throughout much of his prolific career, and this has and will likely remain a major draw for those visiting the city. The act responds to a number of memorials and hundreds of local business ventures which are employing Prince’s name and likeness for commercial ends. The proposed law would also apply to all other Minnesotan celebrities and residents, living or dead.
The act follows California’s landmark 1985 Celebrities Rights Act which was created in response to the need to protect the rights of deceased celebrities. The act has since been invoked to prevent use of images for a number of public figures including Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe. If approved the law will make Minnesota the 19th US state to recognise the personality rights in legislation.
The issue of a greater right to publicity is controversial. While there are many ways of preventing the use of a deceased celebrity’s likeness for commercial gain, celebrity rights are a quick and cost-effective deterrent to those looking to cash in. A trade-off is that these laws can also hamper free expression and the creativity of artists. In the case of TW Corp. v. Jireh Publishing, Inc the painter Rick Rush was sued by Tiger Woods for depicting the celebrity in his work The Masters of Augusta.
The Masters of Augusta by Rick Rush
While Rush’s freedom of expression trumped Wood’s exclusive right to use his image it was lengthy, costly and highly subjective outcome. A key concern would be that the Prince Act could put local street artists, visuals artists and other members of the creative community in a legal quagmire. In a broader sense, publicity rights offer little comfort to other creatives, particularly in countries like Australia which do not enjoy as robust protection of freedom of speech.
With two weeks remaining in Minnesota state legislature it remains to be seen whether the new laws will be passed.
Image: Triple M