As I noted in Types of Intellectual Property, patent and copyright are not the only forms of IP, though they are the two worst; there are also trademarks and trade secrets, in addition to reputation/defamation law, and also the right of publicity and the somewhat related right against “invasion of privacy.” For a recent example of the latter, see this post by Evan Brown of Internet Cases:
Seventh Circuit tosses right of publicity case against Joan Rivers
By Evan Brown (@internetcases) | Posted January 18th, 2013Bogie v. Rosenberg, — F.3d —, 2013 WL 174113 (7th Cir. 2013)
The Seventh Circuit has held it was not an invasion of privacy, nor a misappropriation of plaintiff’s right of publicity, to include a video clip of a 16-second conversation between plaintiff and comedian Joan Rivers filmed backstage. These claims failed under Wisconsin law.
Someone filmed plaintiff having a conversation with Joan Rivers about the comments a heckler made in the just-concluded show. The producers of a documentary about Rivers included the clip in their work. The clip comprised 0.3 percent of the entire work.
Plaintiff sued, alleging claims under Wisconsin law for invasion of privacy and misappropriation of her right of publicity. The district court dismissed her claims for failure to state a claim. The Seventh Circuit affirmed.
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