The Right of Publicity: Privacy Reimagined for a Public World

In The Right of Publicity (Harvard University Press), Jennifer Rothman ’91 describes the history of a little known law — the right to privacy. Rothman traces the privacy law back to its origins in the late 19th century. When it was created, the right to privacy addressed cases of “wrongful publicity” and sought to protect average citizens, but also more famous celebrities. Following changes in the 1950s, the property right changed into a fully transferable intellectual property right. Rothman argues that this transformation is not conducive to the modern internet environment, and that the right to privacy should return to its origins in order to adapt to the new publicity climate.