Publicity Rights in India- A Presentation by Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala Contact Us for Intellectual Property Services BananaIP Counsels Regd Office No.40,3rd Main Road,JC Industrial Estate, Kanakapura Road,Bangalore – 560 062. Email: contact@bananaip.com Telephone: +91-80-26860414 /24/34

1. By
Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala
Visiting Faculty,
National Law School of India University,
Bangalore.
www.bananaip.com
Blog: www.bananaip.com/sinapse-blog

2.  Right to prevent commercial use of
one's persona
 Persona includes name, signature,
voice, etc.
 Right inheres only in celebrities
Public recognition

3.  Unauthorized use of persona
 Commercial gain
 Exception - Free Speech and
Expression

4.  First album, Bolo Tara Ra Ra,
sold 20 million copies making it
the best selling non-soundtrack
album, in Indian music history.
 1998: Tunak Tunak Tun is a rage
on the Internet then and
declared a cult hit by BBC.
 Daler Mehndi in the World of
warcraft- adopted Mehndi’s
popular Tunak Tunak Tun track
& bhangra moves into the
Game.

6.  Gift shops selling dolls
 Daler Mehndi's persona
 Moved like him
 Also sang a few lines of his song

8.  Decision
 Publicity Rights Violation
 False Endorsement
 Passing Off

9.  Proportionality Test
 Impact on Celebrity Vs.
Legitimate Interests of
Public
 Drawn from privacy

10.  Online Computer
Game - BaseBall
 World Cup - Between
Nations
 Current National
Players in teams
 Specific Attributes of
players
 Can record games
 Proportionality test?
Photographer: Hubbard, Tom,
1931

11. Hypothetical B
 Baseball League - Between Clubs
 Buy Players and play matches
online
 Sign endorsements for ads
during matches
 Proportionality Test?

12.  Publicity Rights/Free Speech
Interface
 No National Law
 Passing Off

13. Thank You!
For more information: www.bananaip.com/sinapse-blog
Email: kalyan@bananaip.com