Discussion in class today about parody and caricature reminded me of the Sarkozy voodoo doll fiasco last October and the relationship between parody, caricature, and the right to one’s own image. The French president Sarkozy sued K+B Publishers, the makers of the doll, (which was an image of Sarkozy and came with pins to stick into it, and a list of notoriously rude phrases Sarkozy has uttered over the years) alleging that the doll infringes on his exclusive right to his image. French courts didn’t go for it though. I had a laugh. I wonder if he’s considering suing the Canadian comedy duo who called Sarah Palin and pretended to be him for a whole six minutes. Here is a link to a voodoo doll lawsuit article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/30/europe/france.php
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I was also wondering about this. Can Sarah Palin sue Tina Fey for infringing her personality rights? Would Tina Fey have a fair use defense based on parody? Does fair use even apply to non-copyright protections like personality rights?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like celebrities and politicians should be subject to different considerations over personality rights. Celebrities profit by selling their image, while policitians (ideally) profit by selling their ideas and intelligence. More and more, politicians are crossing over into the celebrity realm, however their respective commercial interests must be kept separate. Politians must be subject to critique without the fear of IP claims.
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