Publication Date
2009
Abstract
Several states now recognize survivable publicity rights, allowing the heirs of a deceased celebrity to inherit the rights to her image and likeness. Under the default U.S. rule of testamentary freedom, a celebrity could also freely devise such survivable rights to persons of his or her choosing. Nevertheless, some scholars have recently proposed the adoption of state statues under which survivable publicity rights would pass automatically to specified statutory heirs regardless of the celebrity's wishes. This Article concludes that no such interference with testamentary freedom is warranted. There is admittedly some historical precedent for protecting the interests of surviving family members with regard to rights intrinsically connected to one's person, such as the right to dispose of one's body and the right to profit from one's artistic creations. The protective measures taken in these contexts, however, either lack a coherent justification or developed for reasons that do not apply to modern rights of publicity. Moreover, exempting publicity rights from the estate tax based solely on the abolition of testamentary freedom would be contrary to basic principles of tax policy. While Congress could amend the Internal Revenue Code to alleviate certain difficulties of valuation,it may be preferable to maintain a tax incentive for celebrities to donate their publicity rights to charity.
Recommended Citation
Tate, Joshua C.
(2009)
"Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, and the Power of Testation,"
Georgia Law Review: Vol. 44:
No.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol44/iss1/2