The Commercial Appropriation of Fame

David Tan is Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) and Associate Professor (Dean's Chair) at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. from Melbourne Law School and an LLM from Harvard Law School.

• Foreword Graeme Dinwoodie; 1. Introduction to the phenomenon of the contemporary celebrity; 2. Relevant insights from cultural studies; 3. The right of publicity in the United States; 4. Right of publicity and indicia of identity; 5. Right of publicity and the appropriation of commercial value of identity; 6. Right of publicity and the freedom of speech under the First Amendment; 7. Cultural studies and the common law passing off action; 8. Twenty-first century challenges: digital fandom, social media and fantasy video games; 9. Conclusions.

'David Tan expertly draws upon the cultural studies tradition to provide a wide-ranging, up-to-the-minute and evenhanded critique of right of publicity law in the US, the UK and Australia. Though theoretically sophisticated, Tan's critique is emphatically practical. He persuasively sets out the many ways in which cultural studies insights can guide the application and reform of right of publicity law. The Commercial Appropriation of Fame is an important new resource that will be required reading for anyone interested in how the law regulates the commercial - and political - exploitation of fame.' Barton Beebe, John M. Desmarais Professor of Intellectual Property Law, New York University School of Law