Protection Of The Property Right To Personality Attributes

With the development of market economy and modern information technology, the practice of using valuable attributes of personality in advertising and merchandising is common, it might be a famous person's name, likeness, and voice. Nevertheless, when his or her own personality attributes are commercially appropriated without his or her consent, people who seek legal redress to protect his or her property right of personality attributes, always find no remedy to prevent such unauthorized exploitation and claim for compensation, due to the lack of relevant legislation in our country. Thus, a study of the issue involving commercial appropriation of personality will be of great meaning and theoretical value.This article mainly consists of six chapters. Chapterâ… points out the problem of the traditional civil theory and our existing law to meet the challenge of the commercial exploitation of personality attributes, starting with the illustration of several cases occurred in China. Chapterâ…¡explores the concepts of personality and right of personality, reviews the history of the development of personality theory via Roman law and modern civil law, then points out its developmental tendency, i.e. the widely-commercial exploitation of personality attributes. Chapterâ…¢illustrates the difference between the property right to personality attributes and the traditional right to personality, introduces the elements of the property right to personality attributes, including its subject, object, content, nature. Chapterâ…£expounds and proves the justification of the property right to attributes of personality, through the law philosophy's and economics'perspective,during which, John Locke's Theory of Labor on the Fruits of Fame, Kant's and Hegel's Theory of Personality, and the Incentive Theory and Allocative Efficiency Theory are set forth and examined. Chapterâ…¤introduces and discusses the right-protection models of the property right to personality attributes,both in the Anglo-American Legal System and the Roman Legal System, of which, the Right of Publicity System in the US, and the Personality Protection Model in Germany are particularly presented and recommended. Chapterâ…¥describes the current status of protection for the property right to personality attributes in China, then points out the deficiency and gap in existing law, then makes some concrete legislative proposals.