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SUMMARY:IDENTITY AND THE LAW - Lionel Bently\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20070216T173000Z
DTEND:20070216T183000Z
UID:TALK6193@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Janet Gibson
DESCRIPTION:Although English law protected visual manifestation of trader'
 s identity (such as names\, logos\, marks and trade dress) as property fro
 m the late nineteenth century\, it has been slower to provide protection t
 o individuals against other people's use of their name\, appearance or voi
 ce\, and has offered very little protection against unauthorised use of cu
 ltural symbols. In this paper\, Lionel Bently will explain why the concept
 s of English law have proved so difficult to extend in these directions\, 
 and how matters are changing. Whereas Queen Victoria's physician Sir James
  Clark\, 1940s radio broadcaster `Uncle Mac'\, 1950's actor Alastair Sim a
 nd even 1990s pop group\, the Spice Girls\, failed in their efforts to con
 trol uses of their names\, images and voices\, English law has recently wi
 tnessed the protection of racing driver Eddie Irvine and Disc jockey `Didd
 y' Dearlove against others wishing to use their names and images (while in
  the United States\, substantial damages were awarded to singer Tom Waits 
 when his gravely voice was imitated on a Frito-Lay advert.) The paper will
  examine the extent to which these changes amount to legal recognition of 
 a person's interest in their own identity (and its manifestations)\, and w
 hat kind of understanding of identity is being employed. The paper will al
 so explore the extent to which such protection may have important implicat
 ions for `identity' more generally\, and the prospects for further protect
 ion of manifestation of collective identity. 
LOCATION:LMH\, Lady Mitchell Hall
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