The celebrity’s right to autonomous self-definition and false endorsements: Arguing the case for a right of publicity in the Philippines

• Main Author: Razon, Arvin Kristopher A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Indorsements—Philippines; Internet personalities—Legal status, laws, etc.—Philippines; Privacy Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11351
• Institution: De La Salle University

With the Philippines being the top country in terms of social media usage, social media platforms have expanded opportunities for celebrities to profit from their fame. Despite the pervasiveness of celebrity culture in the country and the increasing number of unauthorised celebrity advertisements in such platforms, the right of publicity does not explicitly exist in Philippine law. This paper explains that the lack of an explicit statute-based right of publicity does not mean that it does not exist in common law or other statutory law. Centred on the minimalist path of law reform, the paper argues that the existing right to privacy in Philippine law can justify a right to publicity, anchored on the right to protect unwarranted publicity about oneself regardless of one’s status in the public eye, as well as on the right to autonomous self-definition. The illustrative cases in this paper evidence the hurt feelings celebrities suffer from unwanted publicity. A publicity right also exists as a property right under local intellectual property laws on unfair competition.