Arkansas
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
*ANS372* 05-18-2016 10:55:01 ANS372
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2015/2016S3/Bills/SB9.pdf
State of Arkansas Call Item 6
90th General Assembly A Bill
Third Extraordinary Session, 2016 SENATE BILL 9
By: Senators J. Woods, U. Lindsey
By: Representatives Leding, Eads, Neal
For An Act To Be Entitled
AN ACT CONCERNING PUBLICITY RIGHTS; TO PROTECT THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO THE USE OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S NAME, VOICE, SIGNATURE, AND LIKENESS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Subtitle
THE FRANK BROYLES PUBLICITY RIGHTS PROTECTION ACT OF 2016.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 4, Chapter 75, is amended to add an additional subchapter to read as follows:
Subchapter 11 — Frank Broyles Publicity Rights Protection Act of 2016
4-75-1101. Title. 27
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Frank Broyles Publicity Rights Protection Act of 2016”.
4-75-1102. Findings and legislative intent.
(a) The General Assembly finds that citizens of this state:
(1) Are renowned for their hard work and accomplishments in many areas that contribute to the public health, welfare, and pursuit of happiness;
(2) Often spend most of their lives developing and maintaining reputations of honesty and integrity;
(3) Have a vested interest in maintaining the memory of personal traits that characterize them and their accomplishments; and
(4) Should have the use of their names, voices, signatures, photographs, and likenesses protected for their benefit and the benefit of their families.
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly by the enactment of this subchapter to:
(1) Protect the names, voices, signatures, photographs, and likenesses of the citizens of this state from exploitation and unauthorized commercial use without the consent of the citizen;
(2) Provide a method for the fair administration of the right to use the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of a citizen; and
(3) Provide appropriate remedies for the exploitation and unauthorized commercial use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of a citizen.
4-75-1103. Definitions.
As used in this subchapter:
(1)(A) “Commercial use” means the use of an individual’s readily identifiable name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness:
(i) For advertising, selling, or soliciting purchases of products, merchandise, goods, or services; or
(ii) On or in connection with products, merchandise, goods, or other commercial activity that is not exempt under this subchapter.
(B) “Commercial use” does not mean the use of an individual’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness to identify the individual for the purpose of:
(i) Data collection or data reporting and supplying the data collected or reported; or
(ii) Data processing, data matching, data distribution, or data licensing;
(2) “Individual” means a natural person, alive or dead;
(3) “Likeness” means a reproduction of the image of an individual by any means other than a photograph;
(4)(A) “Person” means an individual or entity.
(B) “Person” includes:
(i) A partnership, a corporation, a company, an
association, or any other business entity;
(ii) A not-for-profit corporation or association;
(iii) An educational or religious institution;
(iv) A political party; and
(v) A community, civic, or other organization;
(5) “Photograph” means a reproduction of the image of an individual that readily identifies the individual, whether made by photography, videotape, live transmission, or other means; and
(6) “Successor in interest” means an owner or the beneficial owner of a property right provided by this subchapter under:
(A) A transfer, assignment, or license of the property right; or
(B) Section 4-75-1104(b)(3).
4-75-1104. Property right in use of name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness — Prior consent.
(a) An individual has a property right in the commercial use by any medium in any manner without the individual’s prior consent of:
(1) The individual’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness; and
(2) Any combination of the individual’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness.
(b) The property right provided under subsection (a) of this section:
(1) Is freely transferable, assignable, licensable, and descendible, in whole or in part, by contract or by a trust, testamentary disposition, or other instrument executed before or after the effective date of this subchapter;
(2) Does not expire upon the death of an individual, whether or not the rights were commercially used by the individual during the individual’s lifetime; and
(3)(A) Upon the death of an individual, vests in the individual’s executors, administrators, heirs, devisees, and assignees according to:
(i) The terms of a trust, testamentary, or other instrument under subdivision (b)(1) of this section; or
(ii) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(3)(B) of
this section, if a testamentary instrument does not expressly provide for the transfer of a property right provided by subsection (a) of this section, the
laws of this state governing intestate succession to personalty controls.
(B) In the absence of an express transfer in a testamentary instrument of the rights of an individual in his or her name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, a provision in the testamentary
instrument that provides for the disposition of the residue of the individual’s assets is effective to transfer the rights recognized under this section in accordance with the terms of the provision.
(c) Subject to the terms of a transfer, assignment, or license of a property right provided by this section, the consent required by subsection
(a) of this section shall be exercised by:
(1) The individual during the lifetime of the individual;
(2) A person or persons to whom all or part of the right of consent has been transferred, assigned, or licensed; or
(3) After the death of an individual, as provided by § 4-75-
1105.
4-75-1105. Exercise of rights after death.
(a) Subject to the terms of a transfer, assignment, or license of
property rights under § 4-75-1104, after the death of an individual, consent
to the use of the individual’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or
likeness shall be granted by no less than fifty and one-thousandths percent
(50.001%) of the owners of the right to use the name, voice, signature,
photograph, or likeness of the individual under § 4-75-1104(b)(3).
(b) Compensation or other remuneration received under subsection (a)
of this section for the use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or
likeness of the individual shall be shared by all owners of the right to use
the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of the individual
according to each owner’s respective ownership interest.
4-75-1106. Registration.
(a) A successor in interest shall register a claim of property rights
under this subchapter in the manner provided by this section.
(b) Unless a claim of property rights under this subchapter is registered under this section, a successor in interest shall not recover damages from a person or obtain any other legal or equitable remedy on the claim for a commercial use prohibited by this subchapter unless the person knew of the claim of the successor in interest before the person undertook
efforts or expense to make the commercial use.
(c)(1) A successor in interest shall register the claim with the Secretary of State:
(A) On a form prescribed by the Secretary of State; and
(B) By paying a filing fee prescribed by the Secretary of State not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
(2) The form shall:
(A) Be verified under oath;
(B) Include the name and, if applicable, date of death of the individual; and
(C) Include the name and address of the claimant, the 16 basis of the claim, and the property rights claimed. 17
(d)(1) Upon receipt of the claim, the Secretary of State shall file and post the form along with the entire registry of persons claiming to be a successor in interest of a decedent on the website of the Secretary of State.
(2) The Secretary of State shall microfilm or otherwise reproduce the filing or form and destroy the original filing or form.
(3) Under this section, the microfilm or other reproduction of the filing or form is: 24
(A) Admissible in any court of law; and
(B) A matter of public record.
27
4-75-1107. Exclusive rights — Expiration.
Subject to a transfer, an assignment, or a licensing agreement, the property rights provided by this subchapter are exclusive to:
(1) An individual during the individual’s lifetime; and
(2) The executors, administrators, heirs, devisees, and assignees of the individual for fifty (50) years after the individual’s death.
4-75-1108. Unauthorized commercial use.
(a) Except as provided in § 4-75-1110, a person who commercially uses the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of an individual is liable to the holder of the property right provided by this subchapter for damages and disgorgement of profits, funds, goods, or services if the commercial use was not authorized under § 4-75-1104(c).
(b) If a minor is the holder of the property right, the parent or legal guardian may consent on the minor’s behalf.
4-75-1109. Civil actions — Damages.
(a) An aggrieved party may file a civil action in the county where:
(1) One (1) or more defendants reside; or
(2) A violation of this subchapter occurred.
(b) Upon finding a violation of this subchapter, the court may issue an injunction to prevent or restrain the unauthorized commercial use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of the individual.
(c)(1) The holder of the property right under this subchapter is entitled to recover for the unauthorized commercial use of the property right by seeking both:
(A) The actual damages the holder of the property right has suffered as a result of a commercial use of the property right; and
(B) Any profits that are attributable to the commercial use.
(2) Profits that are attributable to the commercial use shall not be considered in computing the actual damages.
(3) The existence or nonexistence of profits from the unauthorized commercial use shall not be a criterion for determining liability.
4-75-1110. Exempt use — Commercial use.
(a)(1) It is not a violation of this subchapter if the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of an individual is used:
(A) In connection with a news, public affairs, or sports broadcast, including the promotion of and advertising for a sports broadcast, an account of public interest, or a political campaign;
(B) In:
(i) A play, book, magazine, newspaper, musical composition, visual work, work of art, audiovisual work, radio or television program if it is fictional or nonfictional entertainment, or a dramatic, literary, or musical work;
(ii) A work of political, public interest, or newsworthy value including a comment, criticism, parody, satire, or a transformative creation of a work of authorship; or
(iii) An advertisement or commercial announcement for any of the works described in subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section or this subdivision (a)(1)(B);
(C) In a photograph or likeness where the individual appears as a member of the public, an attendee of a photographed event, or in a public place, and the individual is not named;
(D) By an institution of higher education or by a nonprofit organization, club, or supporting foundation that is authorized by the institution of higher education and established solely to advance the purposes of the institution of higher education if:
(i) The use is for educational purposes or to promote the institution of higher education and its educational, athletic, or other institutional objectives; and
(ii) The individual is or was affiliated with the institution, including without limitation as a:
(a) Student or member of the faculty or staff;
(b) Donor or campus visitor; or
(c) Contractor, subcontractor, or employee;
(E) By any person practicing the profession of photography
or his or her representative:
(i) To exhibit and display photographs in a personal portfolio through physical media or digital media unless the exhibit and display are continued by the person practicing the profession of photography after written notice objecting to the exhibit and display has been given by the individual or by his or her representative; 31
(ii) To distribute photographs for license and sale or other transfer to third parties or to promote or advertise such activities; and
(iii) To provide yearbooks to an educational institution or photographs for school publications; or
(F) By a service provider of a system or network, if the service provider:
(i) Does not have actual knowledge that a photograph or likeness on the system or network is in violation of this subchapter; or
(ii) In the absence of such actual knowledge, is not aware of facts or circumstances from which a violation of this subchapter is apparent.
(2) The use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of the individual within a work that is protected under subdivision
(a)(1)(B) of this section is not an exempt use protected by subdivision
(a)(1) of this section if the claimant proves that the use is so directly connected with a product, article of merchandise, good, or service other than the work itself as to constitute an act of advertising, selling, or soliciting purchases of the product, article of merchandise, good, or service by the individual without the prior consent required by this subchapter.
(b)(1) The commercial use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of the individual in a commercial medium does not constitute a commercial use for purposes of advertising or solicitation if the material containing the commercial use is authorized by the individual for commercial sponsorship or paid advertising.
(2) It is a question of fact as to whether or not the commercial use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of an individual is so directly connected with the commercial sponsorship or paid advertising as to constitute an authorized use for purposes of advertising or solicitation.
4-75-1111. Exclusive remedies.
(a) Remedies granted by this subchapter shall constitute the exclusive basis for asserting a claim for the unauthorized commercial use of the name,
voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of an individual.
(b) Except as provided in this subchapter, a right of publicity in the use of the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of an individual
does not exist.
4-75-1112. Construction.
(a) This subchapter:
(1) Shall be liberally construed to accomplish its intent and purposes; and
(2) Does not render invalid or unenforceable a contract or license entered into before or after the effective date of this subchapter by an individual during his or her lifetime by which the individual transferred, assigned, or licensed all or part of the right to use his or her name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness.
(b) The property rights granted by this subchapter are not considered intellectual property for purposes of 47 U.S.C. § 230.
4-75-1113. Applicability.
(a) The property rights granted by this subchapter vest with respect to an individual on the effective date of this subchapter.
(b) This subchapter applies only to individuals maintaining a domicile or residence in the State of Arkansas on or after the effective date of this
subchapter.
SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invaliding does not affect other provisions or applications of this act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.