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Torts

Winter v. DC Comics, 69 P.3d 473 (Cal. 2003)

            The final privacy tort we will study borrows from the law of intellectual property. In an appropriation claim, a plaintiff (usually a celebrity) argues that someone used her likeness, signature, or image without consent. Does this tort exclusively protect individuals’ ability to profit from their own persona—and their incentive to do creative work? Or does control over an individual’s image also serve other important interests? Consider these questions in reading the next case.