Ads and logos often feature animals, including members of endangered species. Meanwhile, extinction rates are climbing and resources devoted to conservation are insufficient. Extending the right of publicity – which protects people’s names and likenesses against unauthorized commercial use – to endangered species could help capture some of the value exploited by advertisers, preventing the private appropriation of endangered species’ publicity value and increasing funding for conservation. Though this proposal may sound far-fetched, such an extension would fit neatly within the justifications for the right of publicity and would be more administrable than it might initially appear.
This Note proceeds as follows. Part I highlights the extent of use of animal imagery – including imagery depicting endangered species – in advertising and argues that this use harms rather than benefits the animals depicted. Part II argues that this gap can be closed by extending the right of publicity to endangered species, contends that this is an appropriate extension of the right, and explains how this could work in practice. Part III addresses a few counterarguments …
Should Trees Have Publicity Rights? Capturing Value from the Use of Endangered Species in Advertising, 137(8) Harvard Law Review 2298 (June 2024).
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