15. A Study on Publicity Right of an Avatar in Video Game

Title(KR)

• 비디오게임 속 아바타의 퍼블리시티권에 관한 연구

Title(ENG)

• A Study on Publicity Right of an Avatar in Video Game

Keywords(KR)

• Right of Publicity, New York Civil Rights Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Expression, Avatar

Keywords(ENG)

• Right of Publicity, New York Civil Rights Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Expression, Avatar

Author

• Suh, Kye Won

Abstract(ENG)

In Lindsay Lohan v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., et al., the court held that the lawsuit failed because GTA V did not feature Lohan’s name, portrait, picture,voice as required by New York Civil Rights Law Section 51. The court emphasized that, even if the GTA V characters were close approximations of Lohan, GTA V never featured the celebrities’ pictures, names, acting talent in GTA V or in advertising materials for the game. The purpose of the study is to analyze legal solutions of this case and to study on considerations to be treated by game creators to protect the game business form a claim of infringement of right of publicity. To achieve the purpose, the study analyzed the Appellate Division of Supreme Court's decision by examining the legal points in the case. On the basis of the results of the analysis, the study found desirable principles to be applied to create game design effectively right of publicity dispute.

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