Celebrities, Personality Rights And Privacy: What Marketers Need To Know About Permission

William Shatner made headlines in November when he took to Twitter to express his displeasure that his name and likeness were used without his permission to promote a condo development in Hamilton, Ontario. The development in question offered units named after several television stars - including the Canadian-born Shatner, former Tonight Show host Jay Leno and comedian Betty White - and used promotional material featuring caricatures of those stars to promote the units.

While it seems as though the matter has been settled in the court of public opinion – indeed, following an exchange of tweets, all references to the television stars have been removed from the condo's online promotional material – this story serves as an important reminder to marketing professionals that the use of someone else's image without authorization can raise legal issues.