Alleged Ax-Murderer Claims News Reporter Violates His Likeness Rights

from the publicity-rights-gone-mad dept

In the latest example of "publicity rights" gone mad, a guy on trial for murder, David French, has asked that a judge in the court order a TV news reporter to turn off his recording equipment because he doesn't want his story told in the press before he gets to write a book about it. As the anonymous submitter of this story noted, "presumably, French is unaware that, if found guilty, the "Son of Sam Law" would prevent him from profiting on any such book."
French said the reporter had no right to record the trial because French may want to write a book someday and doesn't want media telling the story first.

"The court is allowing a commercial entity to make money off of this," French said. "They don't have a right to my name, likeness and ... story."
Thankfully (but not surprisingly), the court shot this down pretty quickly, pointing out that cameras are allowed in the courtroom.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: likeness rights, murderer, publicity rights


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2011 @ 10:49am

    WRONG
    In the latest example of "publicity rights" gone mad, a guy on trial for murder, David French, has asked that a judge in the court order a TV news reporter to turn off his recording equipment because he doesn't want his story told in the press before he gets to write a book about it.

    CORRECT
    In the latest example of "publicity rights" gone mad, a guy on trial for murder, David French, has asked that a judge in the court order a TV news reporter to turn off his recording equipment because he doesn't want his story told in the press.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Andrew F (profile), 7 Apr 2011 @ 10:49am

    Incentives?

    Is no one else concerned that giving publicity rights to alleged ax murders creates all sorts of moral hazards?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    James Carmichael, 7 Apr 2011 @ 10:54am

    Re:

    Hum... ya, Mike, show some kindness for the alleged ax-murderer here. He just wants to write a book about what WOULD HAVE HAPPENED if he was the ax-murderer. Poor, poor fellow. *cough* O.J. *cough*

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Mike42 (profile), 7 Apr 2011 @ 10:54am

    Stupidity of publicity rights

    Something I was thinking about... if I make a movie of clips from other public domain movies, would I be in violation of this law? This could really mess up the next MST3k/fractured flickers show.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    MrWilson, 7 Apr 2011 @ 11:15am

    Re: Incentives?

    Yeah, the Greeks were concerned about this type of issue over 2000 years ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herostratus.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    Berenerd (profile), 7 Apr 2011 @ 11:40am

    Re: Re:

    OJ will bring the true murderer to justice and make sure he dies for his acts of brutality...I mean after all...how old is OJ?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    chris (profile), 7 Apr 2011 @ 12:13pm

    Re: Incentives?

    Is no one else concerned that giving publicity rights to alleged ax murders creates all sorts of moral hazards?

    what are you some sort of limp wristed anti-american liberal whiner?

    david french is a hard working american looking to pull himself out of this recession by his bootstraps and you white wine drinking boy lovers want to keep him down.

    in case you haven't noticed, ax murder is this country's only growth industry, providing thousands of jobs for unemployed americans. it's pinkos like you that are destroying this once great nation.

    once mr. french gets his book deal i'm picking up my ax to do my part. you too can be part of the movement at http://www.axmurderparty.org

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2011 @ 2:05pm

    Might be a good book:
    http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/04/defendant_goes_to_trial_for_ax.html

    "The trial is unusual because the defendant is transgender and the defense and prosecution are using different pronouns. Defense attorneys refer to French as a "she," which is the orientation French identifies with. The prosecutor refers to French as a "he," French's legal gender. "

    "Snowden, the prosecutor, said Johnson wanted French to move out of the cluttered one-bedroom apartment in the 5700 block of North Kerby Avenue. The night of the killing, he confronted French. Johnson had found another transgender individual he was romantically interested in. "

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    The Devil's Coachman (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 5:37am

    How about a new pronoun for this creature?

    Like maybe calling it what it is, which is an it. Not a he, not a she, but it. That would be truthful and relevant.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 9:48am

    Re: How about a new pronoun for this creature?

    ... and dumb and insulting.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    AC, 21 Apr 2011 @ 4:43pm

    Hurt

    I have to ask, why are people much more enamored by the fact that French is transgendered and have NOTHING to say about the fact that he MURDERED a man (my Uncle)? I just don't understand it.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.