Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Re: Use of another person's photo

The appropriation of the name or likeness of another person for one's own benefit or use is an invasion of privacy. The interest protected by this rule is one's interest in the exclusive use of one's own identity, so far as it is represented by her or his name or likeness. An unfair-competition claim in which one asserts that one has the exclusive property right to license the good will and commercial value of one's own name and work is essentially a claim for invasion of privacy governed by the Restatement Second, Torts � 652C. A claim that an author and publisher appropriated the name and reputation of a scientist to support theories that the scientist calls a hoax and thereby drew the scientist against his will into public controversy comes within this rule. However, a celebrity has a limited right of privacy because of her or his prominence. Because a public figure cannot restrict others from writing a biography, the use of a public figure's name in a biographic article does not constitute a breach under the Restatement Second, Torts � 652C, even where it is alleged that some of the facts in the article are false and the article tends to affect the value of the plaintiff's name.