Home  >  News  >  Special announcements  > Announcement

Legislative Alert

June 14, 2007 — ASMP is concerned about a bill that has been introduced in the New York state legislature. The issue is related to rights of publicity and could have an impact on your business even though you are not a New York state resident.

June 27 — Thanks to the efforts of ASMP members and other concerned citizens, the bill has been stopped. More info is below.

July 17 — A similar bill is being pushed in California. This one could be even worse.

Please take the time to read the documents below, especially the draft letter, to have a complete understanding of what is at stake.

Summary of the bill’s provisions: This bill amends section 50 of the civil rights law to prohibit the use for advertising purposes of the name, portrait, voice, signature or picture of any deceased person who died within seventy years of January 1, 2008, without having first obtained the written permission of such person’s estate. Section 51 of the civil rights law is also amended to provide an equitable action in Supreme Court against any person, firm or corporation that illegally uses a deceased persons name, portrait, picture, etc.

The seventy-year retroactivity is particularly troublesome and could wreak havoc with existing licensing agreements.

What you should do: If you live in New York, contact your state senator and state representative. If you live elsewhere, write to the sponsors of the bill: Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (email weinsth@assembly.state.ny.us, fax 518-455-5752) and Senator Martin Golden (webmail www.senatorgolden.com/sendemail.asp, fax 518-426-6910). Express your concern as a commercial photographer and interested party, and point out that this legislation would affect everyone who does business in NY, not just NY residents.

• To find your New York state Senator: www.senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm

• To find your New York state Congressperson: assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

• Here is the actual wording of the House bill, A08836. It is similar to the wording of the Senate bill, S6005.

Also, pass the word on to other photographers you know.

Below is a sample letter that you can modify. Thanks for acting on this now, before it’s too late.

---

Dear Senator / Congressperson (Please put the name of a NY Senator or Representative)

I am a photographer who earns my living by making photographs, including photographs of personalities known to the public: athletes, movie stars, writer, designers, and politicians. And I am very worried about Assembly Bill 8836, authored by Helene Weinstein, and its Senate counterpart S6005, supported by Martin J. Golden. In their current form, the bills would cause substantial damage to any business that is based on the sale of photographs or reproductions of famous people. The bills are extremely one-sided and unfair.

I understand the reasoning behind rights of publicity and the policy behind protecting famous people like Mr. Pacino or Senator Hillary Clinton. If the legislature decides to pass a bill to protect these people moving forward, so be it. I can understand that.

However, the language of the bills, as currently written, reaches back 70 years and awards exemplary damages against any and all uses in the past. Such a law would open the door to hundreds of lawsuits against every photographer, gallery, or publisher who has ever worked within today’s law. Most of these people are not wealthy enough to defend against a suit, especially against large corporations.

Listed in both the State and Senate memos, there are claims that there would be no fiscal implications for the State. This statement is false. This legislation would burden the State with multiple lawsuits and appeals, which in fact would cost millions to the taxpayers.

The force behind this one sided legislation is Curtis Management Group (CMG), and its President, Mark Roesler, who represents the estate of Marilyn Monroe and many others. CMG recently lost a ruling in both New York and California for committing fraud in representing the likeness of Marilyn Monroe. In both states, the judges ruled that Marilyn Monroe’s will did not acknowledge or include her rights of publicity to be passed through her will to the second wife of one of the beneficiaries of Marilyn’s estate. Bill S6005 is a gross attempt by CMG, a huge corporation, to provide a retroactive legislative back door around those court decisions.

Supporters of this bill, such as Rachel Robinson and Al Pacino, have been misled to believe that this bill will protect their rights after they pass on. As I stated in the beginning of my letter, it is very easy for you to pass legislation that would protect the rights of publicity of any New York state resident moving forward from 2007. What you should not approve is a bill that makes it retroactive. It would be like saying that public-domain music or books can be taken back by the original author, retroactively.

As a working photographer, this worries me. If this bill were to pass, huge companies with vast resources, like CMG, would stop at nothing to sue photographers and content providers in New York and all over the world. This broad reach of the language of this legislation must be changed. If you want to protect the rights of publicity, do so moving forward. Retroactivity here is inherently unfair and unreasonable, and likely unconstitutional.

Sincerely,

(Your name and address)

—

Update: June 27, 2007

Good news: The bill's sponsors, Senator Martin Golden and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, withdrew their support in the closing hours of the legislative session, killing the bill. Published reports noted strong opposition from several licensing agencies, the New York State Bar Association, and ASMP.

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contacted a New York legislator; your voices were heard.

We understand that when the legislature reconvenes in the fall, a new bill will be introduced. We are told that it will be done openly and with public input, unlike the last round. We hope that it will be a bill that photographers can support.