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Monday, April 06, 2009
Ind. Law - The right of publicity and John Dillinger museum
The ILB has had a number of entries on the "right of publicity" but missed this entry from the March 17th NY Times, reported by Monica Davey, until reading this brief entry this afternoon by Prof. Eugene Volokh in The Volokh Conspiracy. From the lengthy Times story:
INSIDE the John Dillinger Museum, where the rooms are filled with the baby photographs, dress slacks and handwritten escape plans of Dillinger, the Depression-era bank robber, workers have lately taken to rewriting the signs on some exhibits.The plaques that described Dillinger as the killer of a police officer have been replaced, the fallout from a legal battle that has lasted more than a half-dozen years, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and, for a time, closed the museum in Hammond, a town about 25 miles southeast of Chicago. The fight centered on a question rarely brought up in relation to historical museums: Who controls the portrayal of someone who was once famous, or infamous?
Jeff Scalf, a great-nephew of Dillinger, objected to what he viewed as the depiction of Dillinger as a ruthless murderer and, as part of a legal settlement still being finalized, succeeded in having the museum displays changed to his satisfaction. The exhibits may now offer only that Dillinger “allegedly killed,” taking care to note that the legendary gangster was never convicted of murder in the death of an Indiana police officer during a bank shootout in the 1930s. * * *
Mr. Scalf focused his legal efforts against the museum on the “right of publicity,” which is recognized in Indiana and other states to protect a person’s image from being used commercially without permission. In many cases, often involving living celebrities, it is a simple concept: they do not want their image used to advertise a product without permission.
Some states offer the right posthumously for some limited period, too, and Indiana offers among the lengthiest recognitions of that right — 100 years after death (in Dillinger’s case, until 2034).
Often, a state’s statute protecting the right of publicity is pre-empted by the First Amendment’s protection of free speech, which is why the concept has failed to block unauthorized biographies, movies, portraits and cartoons.
Eugene Volokh, an expert on the matter at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, said that a museum’s portrayal of someone might be equally protected under the First Amendment. Rarely have similar museums faced such challenges, according to the American Association of Museums.
Professor Volokh said the settlement might have a chilling effect on other institutions. “This sends a message to museums that you could get sued on something like this, and you might feel pressured to change the editorial content,” he said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 6, 2009 02:08 PM
Posted to Indiana Law