Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

Many established celebrities possess a significant non-pecuniary interest in preserving their long-term historical artistic and creative legacies in addition to commercial interests in exploiting their images. Recent claims on behalf of such U.S. personalities as Jim Morrison of The Doors, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, and Elvis Presley as well as interests asserted by the descendants of Utagawa Toyoharu and others of Japan have, for example, illustrated this intellectual perspective. As a vehicle of modern communication and discussion, discourse on the public persona often considers societal idealism, identifications, political and economic goals and realities, and cultural influences and disparate legal traditions often affect the degree to which non-monetary interests of celebrities can be vindicated within the global community. In this context, an examination of the protection afforded to celebrities may also serve as a lens through which the tenets of indigenous cultural and the political constructs might be observed in magnification. This article analyzes the myriad of vehicles through which a celebrity's image may be protected in the West and compares and contrasts them with the system of lemoto Seido extant in Japan. It becomes evident through this comparisonthat cultural disposition matters greatly to the manner in which celebrity image is perceived, employed and preserved.

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