Right of Publicity - Enforcement

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Right of Publicity

Right of publicity enforcement stops unauthorized commercial use of your name, image, and likeness, and we move from demand letters to platform takedowns to litigation to shut down identity misuse and recover what it cost you.

When someone uses your name, image, or likeness to sell something without permission, they're profiting off your identity, and that's a right you can enforce. We protect publicity rights through monitoring, demand campaigns, platform takedowns, and litigation when it comes to that, matching the response to how serious the misuse is and what you want out of it.

Catching Unauthorized Use

You can't stop what you don't see. We set up monitoring to detect unauthorized uses of your identity across advertising, physical and online merchandise, social media, and emerging channels like AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic endorsements. Spotting infringement early gives you the most options and the strongest position, whether the goal is a quick takedown or building a record for a larger claim.

Sending Effective Demands

Most misuse stops with a well-aimed letter. We draft cease and desist demands that establish your rights clearly, document the unauthorized use, and spell out what we expect, often resolving the matter without ever filing suit. A credible demand backed by a firm that will actually litigate carries weight, and many infringers fold rather than fight once they understand the exposure.

Litigating When Needed

When a demand isn't enough, we take it to court. We bring right of publicity claims in state and federal court, seeking injunctions to stop the use, damages for the harm, and the infringer's profits where the law allows. We build the case around the relief that matters to you, whether that's shutting the use down fast through an injunction or recovering the value the infringer took from your identity.

Working The Platforms

A lot of identity misuse lives on platforms that have their own takedown channels. We pursue removals on e-commerce marketplaces and social media for impersonation accounts, fake endorsements, and unauthorized merchandise, working each platform's reporting and brand-protection systems. This often gets infringing listings and accounts down faster than a lawsuit could, and we pair it with legal action when the same actors keep coming back.

Frequently asked questions

Commercial uses of your identity without consent, such as advertising, merchandise, or impersonation for profit. News reporting, commentary, and other non-commercial uses are typically protected, so not every appearance of your name is actionable. The line usually turns on whether someone is using you to sell something.

Depending on the state, you may recover your actual damages, the profits the defendant made from using your identity, and in some cases punitive damages. The exact measure varies by jurisdiction, since some states have specific statutory remedies and others rely on common law. Where the case is brought can affect what is on the table.

In many states, yes. Publicity rights are descendible and pass to the estate, but for how long and how broadly varies a lot from state to state, ranging from a fixed number of years to decades. Whether a claim works for a deceased person depends heavily on which state's law applies.

Sometimes. The First Amendment protects news reporting, commentary, and transformative artistic uses, so those defenses come up often. But the line between protected expression and a commercial use dressed up as speech is fact-specific, and a use that mainly sells a product gets less protection. Each case turns on its particular facts.

Publicity rights differ a great deal from country to country, and some recognize them weakly or not at all. The right enforcement strategy depends on where the infringement is happening and where the infringer has assets you could reach. Cross-border cases usually need a plan tailored to those specifics.

This is an evolving area. A growing number of states protect against synthetic replicas of a person's likeness or voice, but the law is still developing and varies by jurisdiction. Whether and how you can act depends on which state's law applies and how the replica is being used.

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