State law claims for the violation of the right of publicity neither fall within the subject matter of copyright nor conflict with the purposes and objectives of the Copyright Act and, therefore, are not preempted, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Feb. 7 (Brown v. Ames, 5th Cir., No. 98-20736, 2/7/00).
Roy C. Ames is a music producer who specializes in Texas blues. Around 1990, Ames licensed to Collectibles Inc., a record label that repackages and sells vintage recordings, master recordings that included performances by the plaintiffs, individual blues musicians, songwriters, music producers, or the heirs of such. Collectibles made and distributed cassettes and CDs with the names and, sometimes, the likenesses of the performers on or in them.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
