퍼블리시티권의 개념과 대상에 관한 고찰

A Study on the Concept and Subject of Right of Publicity Increasing concerns on the right of publicity have been reported lately among celebrated people such as public entertainers and sports elites. Actually, there have been cases in which some wellknown entertainers and sports stars won the lawsuits they entered against infringement of their right of publicity. The Right of Publicity may be defined as a property right to use the name, portrait or other identities of a person for commercial purpose and to limit their use. Originated from the legal protection of personal privacy, the right was first recognized legally by the Haelan case in America in 1953 which affirmed it to be an independent right, separately from the personal right of privacy. Since then, the right has been considered to be a property right for commercial use of names and portraits, different from privacy as personal right. In Korea, the right has also been approved by recent precedents as a property right independent from the traditional personal rights, although no express provisions therefor are yet legally established. On November 9, 2005, Legislators Chan Sook Park et al suggested to revise in part the Law of Copyright in a move to fill the legal gap by stipulating the right of publicity. Precise studies, however, seem to be requested to define the concept of the right of publicity, specify its legal character, determine the scope of subject and object and decide whether the right can be inherited or transferred. This paper, thus, focuses on the issues to be discussed in the session for the legislation of the bill.