I’ve often wondered at what point can someone start taking photos of someone to sell, write autobiographies, or make a movie about them. I understand that newspapers and TV news can do stories about you if you’ve done something ‘newsworthy.’ I also know that paparazzi can take photos of people in public and sell them.
Today though, I learned that Dr. Fauci will be made in to a bobble-head. He said “That’s nice if people want to do it.” so it seems he didn’t know anything about it. I would have thought that they would need his permission to sell his likeness, but it seems they don’t.
They’ve made movies about Richard Jewell, Capt Sully, and a few other recent bigger newsworthy events. Do the movie companies have to get permission from those people, or can they just go ahead and make the movie? And if someone can make a bobble head of Fauci, what’s to keep them from making one of other famous people?
As a general rule, you have no control over your name or image so long as there is a legitimate public interest in the publication, which is sort of circular as nobody would publish anything about you unless there was such an interest.
However for purely private persons regarding purely private matters, there is still invasion of privacy torts that protects you from having your neighbor write tell-all books about you.
Think of all the movies and documentaries about Hitler, for example. That would be a serious suppression of a lot of stuff if the author/producer had to get his living next of kin’s permission.
Right of publicity varies by state. For the most part you can make a movie or write a book about whoever you want subject to libel laws. You can take pictures of public events and whoever takes the picture has the copyright. You can not use an image of a person to imply endorsement or use their name or image to make money. Selling bobble heads is not an artistic endeavor and would not likely be allowed if Fauci wanted to stop it.