New York Enacts New Post-Mortem Publicity Rights Law with Significant Implications for Commercial Advertising and Marketing Uses

A sea-change in NY’s privacy/publicity rights law went into effect on November 30, 2020, when Gov. Cuomo signed legislation establishing a new Civil Rights Law Section 50-f (S5959D /A.5605-C), which for the first time grants a 40-year post-mortem right of publicity for deceased “performers” and “personalities” (as defined below) to protect against unauthorized commercial exploitation of specific attributes of their persona. By Barry Werbin, Esq.