Village People threats over Jamie Oliver advert

In the first issue of our online magazine I reported on the importance of clearing intelectual property. I interviewed Martin Cribbs of Six Degrees IP who said: ” The most important thing to know is: people own the rights to their name, image, and likeness. This is governed by laws which vary from state to state and country by country. A person’s “self” is their own personal property – a “right of personality” – and when an advertiser wants to use a person’s name, their image, or likeness, they need to secure permission to do so.”

Now Jamie Oliver’s producers may have wished they thought about this when they used the image of the members of the 80’s popgroup “The Village People”. Lawyers of the group are threatening to sue Channel 4 in the UK for dressing up Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver as each member of the group to promote his America special.

Anyone who thinks the Village People are little more than a fun-at-the-time 1970s disco band with hits including YMCA and In The Navy needs to think again. According to John Giacobbi, the British lawyer pursuing Channel 4 on their behalf, “the Village People are still a huge, multimillion-dollar global business.” The name and costumes are trademarked in the US, and hundreds of commercial requests are dealt with every year,

via Village People threaten lawsuit over Jamie Oliver advert | Media | guardian.co.uk.