Study On The Civil Law Protection Of Commercial Appropriation Of One’s Name

U.S. Basketball superstar Michael Jordan sueing the Chinese JordanSports Cooperation.Ltd who defended his name right (hereinafter referredas to "Jordan case") leads to widespread concern of the Chinese.The casepromotes the great debate on the commercial appropriation of one’s namein the legal profession.The topic about the commercial appropriation ofone’s name becomes a focus which people pay attention to.The commercialappropriation of one’s name is a recent phenomenon.There’re not so muchtheory and practice,either. The thesis is based on the relationship betweenthe development of name right and merchandising of a person’s name,anddemonstrates the necessity and possibility of the civil law protection on thecommercial appropriation of one’s name. So we can find the path of civilprotection on the commercial appropriation of a person’s name.The introduction introduces the background of the thesis.It alsopresents the recent research about the topic and demonstration idea.The first part is about the analysis of the relationship between thedevelopment of name right and merchandising of a person’s name. Itincludes the historical development of name right,the generating process onthe commercial usage of one’s name,and the definition of the meaning ofthe commercial appropriation of one’s name. The traditional theory holdsthat the name right belongs to the right of personality. The name right is thelegal interests which is enjoyed by a person,including the positive aspectsof the enjoyment,use and changes to the name and the passive aspects of prohibiting unauthorized use of one’s name.With the development of thesociety,the phenomenon of the commercial use of one’s name came out.It isborn out of the name right,but it has much difference from the nameright.The appearance of the merchandising of one’s name breaks thejudgement that the name right contains only spiritual interests.Thetraditional adjustment rules can’t satisfy the recent need.By the research,Idefine the implication of the merchandising of a person’s name,andsummarize its type.So I can lay foundation for the following discuss.The second part is based on current legislation and judicial cases,andsummarize the current status of civil law protection for the commercial useon the area of legislation and judicial.Generally,although there are somerules to protect the name right in civil law, the commercial use of one’sname is rarely mentioned.Department of law isn’t active in theprotection.The judicial practice is unified to the commercial use of one’sname.The judgements of similar cases have great differences. The presentlegislative and judicial situation suggests that China is lack of theprotections rules of commercial use of one’s name and need to explore thesuitable protection path for our national conditions.The third part is looking for the proper theoretical basis for theprotection for commercial use of one’s name.The phenomenon ofcommercial use of one’s name already exists in our country. Different viewsexist in the academia,including the theory of traditional name right,thetheory of expansion of name right,the theory of property right of name rightand the theory of the commercial right of personality.The theories think thatthe commercial use of one’s name need to be protected.By seeking the basisof economics, ethics and Sociology, I’ll pave the way for the civil lawprotection of commercial use of one’s name.The fourth part is searching for the path of civil lawprotection.Commercial use of one’s name need to be ruled by the civillaw,and when anybody use a person’s name without permit,defending hisinterests, civil law must protect the person.Different countries and regionshave great differences on the nature of commercial use of one’s name,sothey take different ways to protect the commercial use of one’s name.Thetraditional theory always holds that the name right belongs to the right of personality and we must protect name right in the way of protecting right ofpersonality.When commercial use of one’s name generated economicbenefits,it isn’t proper to define name right as right of personality whichincludes only spiritual interests.Commercial use of one’s name generatingeconomic benefits is based on the influence of one’s name, so it belongs toname right.I agree with the view and put forward my suggestion for thecivil law protection of commercial use of one’s name.The close shows that, commercial use of one’s name is the inevitableoutcome of history. Civil law need to protect the The phenomenon ofcommercial use of one’s name.It is in line with the national conditions toadopt the unified rights protection mode.In the specific design of thesystem,it still needs cooperation between legislation and judicial.