Image Rights and Other Unorthodox Forms of Intellectual Property

Abstract

In Douglas v. Hello! Ltd, Lord Hoffmann said there was no question of importing image rights or other “unorthodox” forms of intellectual property into English law, despite the case being concerned with the unauthorized magazine publication of celebrity wedding photographs with a remedy granted for breach of confidence. In this chapter we explore the unorthodoxy of image rights. Such rights have been criticized for their repressive effect on the free expression and circulation of public culture. We argue that the public presentation of a person’s face or appearance, captured in a photographic or other form, may employ creative processes of cultural fashioning.