A public identity creates a vastly lucrative brand equity, directly encashable in the form of brand endorsement agreements and contracts. A celebrity or a public figure enjoys what are known as rights of publicity or image rights which enable them to commercially use the goodwill associated with their public status and standing. In simple words, right to publicity or image rights are the rights to charge for the use of their name, photograph, voice or personality. The law grants protection against any unauthorized or illegal exploitation by others of the public status and goodwill of the public figure. The concept of Publicity rights is based on the idea that every individual should have the control over the commercialization of their personality. 

There are two aspects of Right to Publicity. First is the right to publicity itself. It is to prevent one’s name, public status, or any characteristic feature of one’s image from being commercially violated or misused without the permission or authorization or any contractual compensation for the same, it can somewhat be related to a Trademark. It can be transferred, licensed to someone else for them to use, and can also be a descendible right that outlives the public figure or celebrity and can be used by their legal heirs. The second aspect is the right to privacy, the right to be left alone and to prevent the misrepresentation or even representation of the celebrity without their consent. Every human being, including the public figures and the celebrities have a personal life, which need not be put into limelight by the media or any platform without the permission or authorization of the individual.

Intellectual property rights give limited protection to image rights or publicity rights through the laws of registered trademark or copyright and the law of passing off. Many celebrities or organizations have registered trademarks for their names, for example, Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund registered her name and logo as well as the name Diana, Princess of Wales, the signature and some photos of Princess Diana. Many celebrities such as, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjeev Kapoor, David Beckham, etc have also registered trademarks in their names and images. Copyright subsists in original work which is the result of the hard work and intellect of the author. The attention seeking quality or the attraction of a public figure and a celebrity’s public standing may or may not be a result of any original ideas or hard work. Copyright in respect of the images or photographs is usually owned by the photographer or by his/her employer and is unlikely to provide an effective cause of action to those celebrities or public figures who are seeking to protect their image rights as there is no copyright attached to their face, name or any other characteristics of the celebrity. However, a public personality’s signature could qualify for copyright protection by the celebrity or the person themselves.  According to Common Law, publicity rights fall within the ambit of the tort of Passing Off. It prevents any party from exploiting the goodwill of another by passing off goods or services as those of another, without their permission or authority. Passing Off also provides protection against the appropriation of one’s identity.

In conclusion, it can be said that through Intellectual property rights, the privacy of an individual can be very well be protected and it also provides them with several ways to publicise themselves for commercial growth. Moreover, publicity rights or image rights also provide equal protection to all individuals and not only to those who have protected themselves through registered trademarks or copyrights in respect of their names. A public personality or celebrity has the right to publicity but on the other hand they even have the right to privacy so as to avoid any unwanted, illegal or unauthorised publicity of their personal lives.