Posting Celebrity Videos on a Website: Is it Online Copyright Infringement?

With the growth of celebrity-centered websites (both commercial and fan sites), the issue of online copyright infringement has become increasingly prevalent.

Let's say you decide to create a website devoted to your favorite actor.  You write a long bio and list the actor's filmography and additionally decide you'd like to post short video clips and photos of the actor taken at various locations (e.g., sitting courtside at a basketball game or at a movie premiere).  Further, you decide to take some of the photos, place them on coffee mugs and sell them on your website.  The bio and list of films likely won't violate laws for online copyright infringement (assuming you wrote the bio and didn't copy it from somewhere else), but the video clips, photos, and mugs pose potential problems involving online copyright infringement and the actor's right of publicity.

Copyright Basics

Copyright law protects the expression of an idea (e.g., newspaper articles, books, screenplays) and protects works of "authorship," including music, art, sculptures, and photography.  One of the things that copyright law protects is the right of the copyright owner to public display their work. 

Avoiding Online Copyright Infringement

In the above example, the person who recorded the videos and took the photos of the celebrity own the copyright them.  Therefore, that person has the exclusive right to publicly display the videos or photos.  By posting the videos or photos without the copyright owner's permission you would be infringing on their copyright.  To avoid online copyright infringement, you should receive permission from the copyright owner to post on your website.  

If you post the videos and pictures without the owner's permission, you can be forced to take them down and may have to pay damages for the infringement. 

The Right of Publicity

A separate issue from copyright, which protects the creator of the video or photo, is the right of publicity, which protects the subject of the content.  Right of publicity laws protect people from the unauthorized commercial use of their name, likeness, or identity.  A majority of states have right of publicity laws (there is no federal protection for such rights), and they vary from state to state. 

The right of publicity is balanced by first amendment issues.  This means that if the name, likeness, or identity is used in the context of news, public affairs, or sports stories, there is no violation of a person's right of publicity.  In other words, if it's a matter of public interest, first amendment rights trump a person's right of publicity.

So, in the above example, the posting of videos and pictures could be construed as violating the actor's right of publicity (assuming you were making money off the site).  But because stories and sightings of celebrities are arguably newsworthy in today's society, your first amendment right to publish the information may outweigh the actor's claim of a violation of his right of publicity.  Applying right of publicity laws to commercial or fan sites is a new and evolving area of the law, and there are legitimate arguments on both sides, therefore you should be wary of this issue when posting such content.

The selling of the coffee mugs is a different story.  You have no first amendment right related to selling coffee mugs.  Because there is no first amendment protection, the actor would have an obvious claim to a violation of his right of publicity, as you are selling a product with his name, likeness or identity for pure profit.