It seems a couple of Vancouver entrepreneurs got a legal lesson regarding appropriation of personality and the BC Privacy Act when they produced t-shirts bearing John Tortorella's image.
At common law it is known as the right of publicity (aka personality rights) or the tort (civil wrong) of appropriation of personality and was first articulated by the Ontario Court of Appeal in Krouse v. Chrysler Canada Ltd., (1973), 1 O.R. (2d) 225 (Ont. C.A.) It allows an individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness, voice, reputation or other unequivocal aspects of his or her identity.
In BC we have passed legislation and created a statutory tort under the Privacy Act at Section 3(2):
(2) It is a tort, actionable without proof of damage, for a person to use the name or portrait of another for the purpose of advertising or promoting the sale of, or other trading in, property or services, unless that other, or a person entitled to consent on his or her behalf, consents to the use for that purpose.
http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/ID/freeside/00_96373_01
In this case Tortorella may well have assigned his right to publicity to the Canucks under his contract.
A pair of Vancouver entrepreneurs selling “Free Torts†T-shirts have been shut down by the Vancouver Canucks organization.
Treven LePage and a friend began selling the shirts online after coach John Tortorella was handed a 15 day suspension for attempting to rush the Calgary Flames’ dressing room. The incident followed a heated on-ice exchange between the two teams on Saturday.
The simple white T-shirts feature an image of Tortorella pointing a finger, with the slogan “FREE TORTS†in capital block letters.
The shirts were sold for $20 each, with $1 from each shirt pledged to the John & Christine Tortorella Family Foundation.
However, the website freetorts.com where the shirts were sold was shut down Thursday, replaced with a simple message posted by the sellers.
“Bad news friends, the man has shut us down,†it read. “I got a phone call at work this afternoon from somebody from within the organization. They want us to stop selling shirts. Apparently supporting the coach is poor form around here.â€
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Fre...ry.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
And this is not the first time such things have happened.
In 1999, De Niro’s Supper Club was a popular restaurant establishment in downtown Vancouver. At the time, the city was experiencing a large commercial growth in the film industry and often referred to as “Hollywood Northâ€. Unfortunately for the owners of De Niro’s Supper Club, the popularity of the establishment and of the city’s recognition with the film industry garnished the attention of the actor, Robert De Niro.
Not wanting his name associated with the restaurant, De Niro threatened to sue the owners under section 3 of the BC Privacy Act, which creates an actionable claim if a person uses someone else’s name to promote their business or sales. The restaurant cleverly changed its name to “Section (3)†in response.
http://mikepoznanski.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/deniro_restaurant/
