© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP

Rights of Publicity andVIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT

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Navigating theNEW MEDIA

DEVELOPERS’ MAP

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The video game industry is reaching the peak of entertainment

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 42 Realism rules the day

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 53 Celebrities still drive

value

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PuttingRIGHTS OF PUBLICITYIn The Spotlight

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Understanding Right of Publicity

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Entitlement to the economic benefit of one’s likeness

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Weighed against the First Amendment rights of developers

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 103 Freely assignable (under

California law)

Timed Out v. Youabian, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 830 (Cal. App. Ct. Sept. 12, 2014)

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False Representation of Celebrity Endorsement

Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act

Brown v. Elec. Arts, 724 F.3d 1235 (9th Cir. 2013)

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State Law – Transformative Use

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 131 The rock star cases

Kirby v. Sega of America, Inc., 144 Cal.App.4th 47 (2006)

No Doubt v. Activision Inc., 192 Cal.App.4th 1018 (2011)

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 142 The EA sports cases

Keller v. Elec. Arts, 724 F.3d 1268 (9th Cir. 2013)

Davis v. Elec. Arts, No. 12-15737 (9th Cir. Jan. 6, 2015)

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 153 The Call of Duty case

Noriega v. Activision/Blizzard, No. BC 551747, Slip Op. (Sup. Ct. Cal. Oct. 27, 2014)

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 164 Trying to connect the

pieces

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ControllingRIGHT OF PUBLICITY

RISK

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 181 Transform personalities

you use

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Know when you can use historically significant characters

© 2015 ROBINS KAPLAN LLP 203 Know when to get a

license

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Seth A. Northrop

Silicon ValleySNorthrop@robinskaplan.com650.784.4012