Lee, Y.H. (2018) Putting a Face to the Game: The Intellectual Property Implications of Using Celebrity Likenesses in Videogames. Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, 13 (2). pp. 143-153. ISSN 1747-1532
Abstract
Licensing deals between videogame developers and celebrities for the use of the latter’s likenesses in the former’s products are becoming increasingly commonplace. These are activities that would be governed by the law relating to the ‘right of publicity’ in the US and by the law relating to the ‘right of personality’ in various continental European jurisdictions. However, no equivalent legal framework exists in the UK.
This article considers the extent to which the relevant intellectual property frameworks in the UK prohibit or permit the unauthorised use of celebrity likenesses in videogames, in particular copyright law, the law of passing off, and trade mark law.
The article concludes that, given recent developments within the law of passing off and the law of trade mark, it may no longer be untenable to suggest that such uses could be caught by these two legal regimes. In doing so, it also highlights how far the ambit of these two regimes has expanded in recent decades.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Oxford University Press. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice following peer review. The version of record Yin Harn Lee; Putting a face to the game: the intellectual property implications of using celebrity likenesses in videogames, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Volume 13, Issue 2, 1 February 2018, Pages 143–153 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpx193. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Law (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Sep 2017 10:59 |
Last Modified: | 17 Oct 2019 00:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpx193 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/jiplp/jpx193 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120657 |