Protection of Persona in the EU and in the US: a Comparative Analysis

The American Right of Publicity has been developed and applied differently in the states of the U.S. for several decades and still several questions remain regarding the nature of the right. In Europe, many countries seem to follow the American development or have a similar right protecting the commercial value of a person’s identity emerging in their legal system. With the constant globalization and increase in interaction of the sports and entertainment markets in the world, harmonization of the different rules protecting this commercial interest in a persona is necessary to grant sufficient protection. This work is a comparative study of the rules and developments in the U.S. and in several countries in the European Union. If enough common traits can be found in these countries, there may be a way to start harmonization within the member countries of the European Union. By looking at the current status and history of development in all of these countries, this work aims at establishing whether or not there could be a harmonized European right protecting the commercial value of a persona and what the appropriate elements of such a right would be