Right of publicity & invasion of privacy claims often intersect and overlap, depending on the circumstances of the particular case. California’s privacy laws apply broadly to everyone. When someone else uses your name, image, voice, or other aspect of your identity without permission, they may be violating your right to privacy.
Is there a right of publicity for animals? More specifically, do pets have a right of publicity in California? These may seem like silly questions at first glance, but the answers could be very important if you have a pet with a social media presence. These days, it is not uncommon for people to create social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest where they post daily photos of their pets. These accounts can be incredibly popular and often gain hundreds or even thousands of followers.
If a company uses a person’s photo, voice, or likeness and includes it in their own advertisement without first obtaining consent, they may be violating the person’s right of publicity. In California, there are laws against misappropriating someone’s publicity rights. Unfortunately, not all right of publicity lawsuits are brought in good faith, which is why anyone who has been threatened with this type of litigation should be aware of the best defenses to right of publicity claims.
You may have worked very hard on your public image, especially if you use that image to generate revenues through a brand or persona that you publicize online. When someone takes your carefully cultivated image without permission, they are stealing your hard work to make money for themselves. Moreover, their actions could be causing significant harm to your image by associating it with a product or service that you do not want to be associated with.
California and federal trade secret laws are supposed to protect businesses against the unlawful acquisition, use, or disclosure of their proprietary information. But these legal protections can also open the door for the filing of bad faith claims by business owners who may have a grudge against a former employee or a competing company.
It is vital for any business owner to know the answer to this question: “What is a trade secret?” Sometimes, a company’s intellectual property assets are valuable precisely because information about those assets is not generally known to the public. These are considered “trade secrets,” and both California and federal law afford businesses with legal protections for their trade secrets. These laws recognize that when a company loses its proprietary information due to theft or infringement, the results can be disastrous.
The legal system has many complexities, such as a requirement that plaintiffs not wait too long to file lawsuits in either California courts or federal court. This is one reason why it’s so important for any business owner with valuable intellectual property to have a solid understanding of California IP laws, including the statute of limitations for trade secret claims.
Trade secrets encourage innovation from businesses who will have a competitive advantage versus their competitors. Unfortunately, it is extremely easy these days for someone to acquire a company’s trade secrets, especially when the information is stored online or digitally. This can make it very tempting for an unethical employee to access the data and steal it. The good news is that the law gives courts several options when it comes to imposing trade secret remedies in California.
Trade secrets and other intellectual property can be extremely valuable to companies, particularly when those companies have competitors with similar products or services. That’s a major reason why companies will go to great lengths to ensure that their trade secrets and other IP assets remain confidential.
Trade secrets protect the things that make a business unique, and trade secrets themselves are protected by both federal and state laws. California trade secret lawyers are often asked, “What is the Defend Trade Secrets Act?” The Defend Trade Secrets Act is a federal law that applies to any trade secrets related to products or services used in interstate commerce. The statute also applies to trade secrets used internationally.