Legal Question in Entertainment Law in New York
Touring Memorabilia
For many years we have collected celebrity memorabilia( clothing, jewlery etc). These items belonged to various celebrities who are now deceased. We are interested in putting together a Traveling museum where facilities such as casinos, festivals etc. would rent our display for a flat fee. Would be have a problem with the estates of these celebrities coming after us? All this items are legite and can be authenticated. It is a first class display and at no time would be tarnishing the name of these people. How would you advice us to proceed?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Touring Memorabilia
The short answer is that it would in part depend on what else you display alongside the objects and what you put in any labels, descriptions, boards, etc. The nature of the objects, especially if they depict the celebrities is another important issue.
Celebrities enjoy the right of publicity or the right to prevent someone from using another's name, voice, or likeness in an advertisement or in merchandising without first getting a license. A distinction to be drawn here is between commercial and non-commercial use of a celebrity's image or likeness. However, different states have different rules on this issue, and what state law would apply normally would be a question of the celebrity's domicile. Generally, under New York law, there is no post-mortem right of publicity; so the right of publicity does not survive the death of the celebrity.
Non-celebrities have even stronger rights against being put on public display. If some of the exhibits were put together without the owners' knowledge or permission and intruded into their private affairs, privacy rights may also be implicated. New York privacy law prohibits non-consensual use of a person's image for advertising purposes.
Having said that, although your museum project may fall somewhere in between purely artistic and purely commercial, merchandising or advertising uses, you should be able to find some protection under the right to freedom of expression. The answer would lie in a careful examination of each object (or category of objects) and its specific facts and circumstances on a case-by-case basis. This area of law is evolving and is fairly complex so qualified legal advice would be essential to clear the use of your objects, obtain permissions and licenses where necessary and adjust the presentation to minimize potential claims.
Note that this reply is of general informational nature, is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.