Expands the right of publicity to seventy years following the death of a deceased personality; makes the provisions of such section granting a right of publicity applicable to all deceased persons until the end of such 70 year period.
S10493 would amend New York’s civil rights law to expand the posthumous right of publicity. Under current law, the protected period for a deceased personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness is 40 years after death; this bill extends that period to 70 years. It also broadens the statute’s language to cover not only direct use of those attributes, but also a “substantially similar imitation” of them when used on products, merchandise, goods, or in advertising, selling, or soliciting purchases.
The bill also changes the application of the 2020 right-of-publicity law so that the amended protections would apply to all living individuals and to deceased individuals who died before as well as after the effective date, rather than only to those who died on or after that date. In practical terms, this would create a longer and more expansive property-like right for heirs or other authorized persons to control commercial uses of a deceased person’s identity.
The bill would amend Civil Rights Law section 50-f and related provisions of chapter 304 of the laws of 2020. Its main legal effect is to lengthen the duration of postmortem publicity rights from 40 to 70 years and to make those rights apply more broadly to earlier decedents, increasing the number of estates and rightsholders who could bring claims. Businesses, advertisers, merchandisers, publishers, and others using a deceased personality’s identity for commercial purposes would face a longer period of potential liability and would need to obtain consent from the authorized persons specified in the statute.
No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge sentiment. Based on the bill’s text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as an expansion of protections for deceased personalities and their estates, suggesting a generally rights-protective intent. The absence of recorded votes or discussion means there is no evidence here of formal support or opposition from legislators.
The most likely point of contention is the scope and duration of the right of publicity. Supporters would likely favor stronger control for estates and heirs over commercial exploitation of a deceased person’s identity, while critics may argue that extending the term to 70 years and applying it retroactively could burden speech, media, historical works, and commercial uses involving older public figures. Another possible issue is the addition of liability for “substantially similar imitation,” which could raise questions about how broadly imitation is defined and whether it could chill lawful expression or parody in commercial contexts.