[California Civil Code]

3344. (a) Any person who knowingly uses another’s name, voice,
signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products,
merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or
soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services,
without such person’s prior consent, or, in the case of a minor, the
prior consent of his parent or legal guardian, shall be liable for
any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result
thereof. In addition, in any action brought under this section, the
person who violated the section shall be liable to the injured party
or parties in an amount equal to the greater of seven hundred fifty
dollars ($750) or the actual damages suffered by him or her as a
result of the unauthorized use, and any profits from the unauthorized
use that are attributable to the use and are not taken into account
in computing the actual damages. In establishing such profits, the
injured party or parties are required to present proof only of the
gross revenue attributable to such use, and the person who violated
this section is required to prove his or her deductible expenses.
Punitive damages may also be awarded to the injured party or parties.
The prevailing party in any action under this section shall also be
entitled to attorney’s fees and costs.
(b) As used in this section, “photograph” means any photograph or
photographic reproduction, still or moving, or any videotape or live
television transmission, of any person, such that the person is
readily identifiable.
(1) A person shall be deemed to be readily identifiable from a
photograph when one who views the photograph with the naked eye can
reasonably determine that the person depicted in the photograph is
the same person who is complaining of its unauthorized use.
(2) If the photograph includes more than one person so
identifiable, then the person or persons complaining of the use shall
be represented as individuals rather than solely as members of a
definable group represented in the photograph. A definable group
includes, but is not limited to, the following examples: a crowd at
any sporting event, a crowd in any street or public building, the
audience at any theatrical or stage production, a glee club, or a
baseball team.
(3) A person or persons shall be considered to be represented as
members of a definable group if they are represented in the
photograph solely as a result of being present at the time the
photograph was taken and have not been singled out as individuals in
any manner.
(c) Where a photograph or likeness of an employee of the person
using the photograph or likeness appearing in the advertisement or
other publication prepared by or in behalf of the user is only
incidental, and not essential, to the purpose of the publication in
which it appears, there shall arise a rebuttable presumption
affecting the burden of producing evidence that the failure to obtain
the consent of the employee was not a knowing use of the employee’s
photograph or likeness.
(d) For purposes of this section, a use of a name, voice,
signature, photograph, or likeness in connection with any news,
public affairs, or sports broadcast or account, or any political
campaign, shall not constitute a use for which consent is required
under subdivision (a).
(e) The use of a name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness
in a commercial medium shall not constitute a use for which consent
is required under subdivision (a) solely because the material
containing such use is commercially sponsored or contains paid
advertising. Rather it shall be a question of fact whether or not
the use of the person’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or
likeness was so directly connected with the commercial sponsorship or
with the paid advertising as to constitute a use for which consent
is required under subdivision (a).
(f) Nothing in this section shall apply to the owners or employees
of any medium used for advertising, including, but not limited to,
newspapers, magazines, radio and television networks and stations,
cable television systems, billboards, and transit ads, by whom any
advertisement or solicitation in violation of this section is
published or disseminated, unless it is established that such owners
or employees had knowledge of the unauthorized use of the person’s
name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness as prohibited by this
section.
(g) The remedies provided for in this section are cumulative and
shall be in addition to any others provided for by law.

3344.1. (a) (1) Any person who uses a deceased personality’s name,
voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in
products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or
selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods, or
services, without prior consent from the person or persons specified
in subdivision (c), shall be liable for any damages sustained by the
person or persons injured as a result thereof. In addition, in any
action brought under this section, the person who violated the
section shall be liable to the injured party or parties in an amount
equal to the greater of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) or the
actual damages suffered by the injured party or parties, as a result
of the unauthorized use, and any profits from the unauthorized use
that are attributable to the use and are not taken into account in
computing the actual damages. In establishing these profits, the
injured party or parties shall be required to present proof only of
the gross revenue attributable to the use and the person who violated
the section is required to prove his or her deductible expenses.
Punitive damages may also be awarded to the injured party or parties.
The prevailing party or parties in any action under this section
shall also be entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, a play, book, magazine,
newspaper, musical composition, audiovisual work, radio or television
program, single and original work of art, work of political or
newsworthy value, or an advertisement or commercial announcement for
any of these works, shall not be considered a product, article of
merchandise, good, or service if it is fictional or nonfictional
entertainment, or a dramatic, literary, or musical work.
(3) If a work that is protected under paragraph (2) includes
within it a use in connection with a product, article of merchandise,
good, or service, this use shall not be exempt under this
subdivision, notwithstanding the unprotected use’s inclusion in a
work otherwise exempt under this subdivision, if the claimant proves
that this use is so directly connected with a product, article of
merchandise, good, or service as to constitute an act of advertising,
selling, or soliciting purchases of that product, article of
merchandise, good, or service by the deceased personality without
prior consent from the person or persons specified in subdivision
(c).
(b) The rights recognized under this section are property rights,
freely transferable, in whole or in part, by contract or by means of
trust or testamentary documents, whether the transfer occurs before
the death of the deceased personality, by the deceased personality or
his or her transferees, or, after the death of the deceased
personality, by the person or persons in whom the rights vest under
this section or the transferees of that person or persons.
(c) The consent required by this section shall be exercisable by
the person or persons to whom the right of consent, or portion
thereof, has been transferred in accordance with subdivision (b), or
if no transfer has occurred, then by the person or persons to whom
the right of consent, or portion thereof, has passed in accordance
with subdivision (d).
(d) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), after the death of any
person, the rights under this section shall belong to the following
person or persons and may be exercised, on behalf of and for the
benefit of all of those persons, by those persons who, in the
aggregate, are entitled to more than a one-half interest in the
rights:
(1) The entire interest in those rights belong to the surviving
spouse of the deceased personality unless there are any surviving
children or grandchildren of the deceased personality, in which case
one-half of the entire interest in those rights belong to the
surviving spouse.
(2) The entire interest in those rights belong to the surviving
children of the deceased personality and to the surviving children of
any dead child of the deceased personality unless the deceased
personality has a surviving spouse, in which case the ownership of a
one-half interest in rights is divided among the surviving children
and grandchildren.
(3) If there is no surviving spouse, and no surviving children or
grandchildren, then the entire interest in those rights belong to the
surviving parent or parents of the deceased personality.
(4) The rights of the deceased personality’s children and
grandchildren are in all cases divided among them and exercisable in
the manner provided in Section 240 of the Probate Code according to
the number of the deceased personality’s children represented. The
share of the children of a dead child of a deceased personality can
be exercised only by the action of a majority of them.
(e) If any deceased personality does not transfer his or her
rights under this section by contract, or by means of a trust or
testamentary document, and there are no surviving persons as
described in subdivision (d), then the rights set forth in
subdivision (a) shall terminate.
(f) (1) A successor in interest to the rights of a deceased
personality under this section or a licensee thereof may not recover
damages for a use prohibited by this section that occurs before the
successor in interest or licensee registers a claim of the rights
under paragraph (2).
(2) Any person claiming to be a successor in interest to the
rights of a deceased personality under this section or a licensee
thereof may register that claim with the Secretary of State on a form
prescribed by the Secretary of State and upon payment of a fee as
set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12195 of the Government Code.
The form shall be verified and shall include the name and date of
death of the deceased personality, the name and address of the
claimant, the basis of the claim, and the rights claimed.
(3) Upon receipt and after filing of any document under this
section, the Secretary of State shall post the document along with
the entire registry of persons claiming to be a successor in interest
to the rights of a deceased personality or a registered licensee
under this section upon the World Wide Web, also known as the
Internet. The Secretary of State may microfilm or reproduce by other
techniques any of the filings or documents and destroy the original
filing or document. The microfilm or other reproduction of any
document under the provisions of this section shall be admissible in
any court of law. The microfilm or other reproduction of any
document may be destroyed by the Secretary of State 70 years after
the death of the personality named therein.
(4) Claims registered under this subdivision shall be public
records.
(g) No action shall be brought under this section by reason of any
use of a deceased personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph,
or likeness occurring after the expiration of 70 years after the
death of the deceased personality.
(h) As used in this section, “deceased personality” means any
natural person whose name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness
has commercial value at the time of his or her death, whether or not
during the lifetime of that natural person the person used his or her
name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness on or in products,
merchandise or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or
solicitation of purchase of, products, merchandise, goods, or
services. A “deceased personality” shall include, without
limitation, any such natural person who has died within 70 years
prior to January 1, 1985.
(i) As used in this section, “photograph” means any photograph or
photographic reproduction, still or moving, or any video tape or live
television transmission, of any person, such that the deceased
personality is readily identifiable. A deceased personality shall be
deemed to be readily identifiable from a photograph when one who
views the photograph with the naked eye can reasonably determine who
the person depicted in the photograph is.
(j) For purposes of this section, a use of a name, voice,
signature, photograph, or likeness in connection with any news,
public affairs, or sports broadcast or account, or any political
campaign, shall not constitute a use for which consent is required
under subdivision (a).
(k) The use of a name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness
in a commercial medium shall not constitute a use for which consent
is required under subdivision (a) solely because the material
containing the use is commercially sponsored or contains paid
advertising. Rather, it shall be a question of fact whether or not
the use of the deceased personality’s name, voice, signature,
photograph, or likeness was so directly connected with the commercial
sponsorship or with the paid advertising as to constitute a use for
which consent is required under subdivision (a).
(l) Nothing in this section shall apply to the owners or employees
of any medium used for advertising, including, but not limited to,
newspapers, magazines, radio and television networks and stations,
cable television systems, billboards, and transit ads, by whom any
advertisement or solicitation in violation of this section is
published or disseminated, unless it is established that the owners
or employees had knowledge of the unauthorized use of the deceased
personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness as
prohibited by this section.
(m) The remedies provided for in this section are cumulative and
shall be in addition to any others provided for by law.
(n) This section shall apply to the adjudication of liability and
the imposition of any damages or other remedies in cases in which the
liability, damages, and other remedies arise from acts occurring
directly in this state. For purposes of this section, acts giving
rise to liability shall be limited to the use, on or in products,
merchandise, goods, or services, or the advertising or selling, or
soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods, or services
prohibited by this section.
(o) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Astaire
Celebrity Image Protection Act.