A full-blown blog post follows later today, but I wanted to give Seattle-area writers a heads-up about a talk that is happening tomorrow, one that would be REALLY useful to any memoirist out there, or indeed, anyone seriously interested in writing about real people. It also sounds like the examples will be a hoot.
Here’s the skinny:
Washington Lawyers for the Arts presents
FAIR USE OF NAMES & FACES: EXCEPTIONS TO THE RIGHT OF PUBLICITY
911 Media Arts Center, 402 9th Avenue N, Seattle, Washington 98109
Thursday, June 14, 2007, 11:45 am – 2:00 pm
Attorney Bob Cumbow will take artists and attorneys who advise artists through the maze of state laws governing the rights of both celebrities and nobodies in the use of their names and faces, looking at when it’s okay to use an identifiable person (living or dead) in a work of written or visual art, and, on the other side, when it’s best to get permission. Bob will look at how Washington’s Personality Rights Act addresses these issues, recent important developments in this area of law, and how these issues have been dealt with in other jurisdictions. Cases have involved The Three Stooges, Dustin Hoffman, Tiger Woods, Rosa Parks, Yogi Berra, Bettie Page, and other pop culture personae, even those appearing in robotic form.
FEE: In advance: $25 Attorneys and Paralegals; $10 Artists and Students. At the door: $30 Attorneys and Paralegals; $15 Artists and Students
REGISTRATION: To register, visit Brown Paper Tickets, , or phone 24/7 at (800) 838-3006. To pay at the door, RSVP to Washington Lawyers for the Arts at (206) 328-7053.