La notorietà della persona da interesse protetto a bene giuridico

The idea of this study arose from the observation that in the contemporary media society name and image of celebrities are important economic values that may last even after their death and therefore should be included among the assets of the deceased. Celebrities gain huge amount of money from the consent to the use of symbols that evoke their identity in commercial advertising. The infringement of the exclusive right of the person to consent has been punished by the Courts using different arguments: in USA it was recognized as a property right, named right of publicity, in Italy the protection is based upon the right of the person to control his identity (right of personality) and to exploit what is fruit of his work and ability (copyright protection). The research was carried on in different complementary directions: from the north American right of publicity experience (how it arose and how it spread up around the world), to the Italian case law (with particular attention to the liquidation of damage for the infringement and to the contractual models used for licensing), to the recent protection of celebrity as a value in the Italian trademark law. The conclusion is that in our legal system celebrity has became an intellectual property good, covered by exclusive, which is licensed and protected as a patrimonial asset and as a personal right, in analogy with copyright.