In Search for a Jurisprudential Justification for the Recognition of a Right of Publicity in Kenya

Publicity rights fall in the intersection between classic intellectual property rights law, unfair trade practices law and privacy rights law. This is an area that has recently experienced notable judicial decisions in Kenya which have not gained ample exposure and therefore worth looking into as an area for potential emerging jurisprudence. A look at the existing practices across different jurisdictions in the world reveals various positions and approaches with respect to publicity rights. On one hand, there are jurisdictions in which publicity rights are categorized within the broad spectrum of personality rights while in other jurisdictions these rights are treated as proprietary rights. Some jurisdictions also have a hybrid approach that amalgamates both proprietary and personality rights approaches. Publicity rights cut across four broad legal areas; tort, property, privacy and unfair trade practice law. These rights also have common similarities with copyright and trademark rights although they are not synonymous. A significant number of countries which recognize a right of publicity have a mixture of elements of these areas either as a form of common law approach based on the tort of passing off or specific statutory enactments on publicity rights. Legal practice and development in each jurisdiction has to be considered in the knowledge that each country has developed specific publicity rights mechanisms in response to the practical socio-economic needs and realities obtaining in each particular jurisdiction. This study surveys the legal landscape with respect to personality rights in Kenya and takes a brief look at several other select jurisdictions in an attempt to answer the question whether there is a jurisprudential justification for the recognition of a publicity right in Kenya.