The Ins and Outs of Clearances . . . Celebrities And More -#LX11 Licensing International Expo 2011

I attended the seminar “The Ins And Outs of Clearances . . . Celebrities And More” at the recently concluded 2011 Licensing International Expo. The seminar sought to address the important issues to consider when using a celebrity’s name, image, likeness or works to promote a product or company.

The panel covered a lot of the issues and concepts I discuss here regularly. Namely:

1. Trademark Law
2. Copyright Law
3. Rights of Publicity

A standout for me on the panel was John Tehranian, a practicing attorney and Professor. He could really articulate legal concepts in an easy straight to the point way that I thought the average person could get. I was so impressed by him, I interviewed him right after his presentation on the panel. Tehranian is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School and has authored two books. The first is called Whitewashed (New York University Press, 2009) and the second is Infringement Nation: Copyright 2.0 and You (Oxford University Press, 2011). I am particularly intrigued that ‘Infringement Nation’ takes on millions of copyright violation by the average person in a new digital age and answers the important question of how existing copyright laws fit in an ever changing and shifting digital paradigm.

I received a review copy of the book and look forward to reading and offering my opinion on it. I do expect the wit, intelligence and articulateness I saw Tehranian display at the seminar to be reflected in his book; and trust I will enjoy reading every page.

For more information about Infringement Nation or to purchase it, feel free to visit the book’s Amazon page.

Cheers,
Uduak