The Right of Publicity

First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy created a personal brand so striking, we are still captivated by the memory today. Complex and reserved, glamorous and self-possessed, Jackie was known for her sense of style and sophistication. Decades after her death, Jackie’s name still crops up in the media.

The September 2008 issue of Vanity Fair featured an article on France’s first couple, Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, comparing them to Jack and Jackie Kennedy. When asked how she liked being compared to Jackie, the First Lady of France responded in a positive way. Her own personal brand—that of an Italian heiress, model and singer, with past liaisons with Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton—is actually quite dissimilar to Jackie’s, but that hardly seemed to matter within the context of the article. To be compared to a legend has great allure, n’est pas?

But we must tread carefully when it comes to comparisons. In Onassis v. Christian Dior-New York, Inc., the court held that the use of a Jackie Onassis look-alike model in a photograph with other live celebrities violated a right known as the “right of publicity.” You cannot use a celebrity’s persona for free. “Persona” comes from Latin and has to do with the mask worn by an actor. The term “public persona” is a legal term which includes the person’s name, likeness, voice, photographs and mannerisms.

Public figures, actors, athletes, writers and musicians all make money from the use of their public persona, which is considered a commodity. The “right of publicity” is a person’s right to control and benefit from the commercial use of his or her identity, and this right is just as important a legal concept as the “right of privacy.” Private people, according to the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics, have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.

If you create a public persona, you are moving into that group of leaders who deliberately seek and benefit from media attention. Rest assured that the time you invest in developing your personal brand will give you a return on investment (ROI) that can be legally protected from piracy or misappropriation.