How can the elements of publicity law and the Lanham Act apply?
Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas have adopted statutes making it illegal to use the name, picture or likeness of a member to the U.S. armed forces for commercial purposes without permission.
The Arizona legislature adopted that state’s law in response to complaints from family members whose relatives’ names were on an antiwar t-shirt. Dan Frazier, an antiwar activist , manufactured and sold the shirts containing the names of 3,461 soldiers who died in Iraq, as well as an antiwar message. The soldiers’ names were in small print, difficult to read without holding the shirt close to one’s eyes. Frazier challenged the law.
A federal court said the t-shirts were political speech and the soldiers’ appropriation rights were not more important than Fraziers’ First Amendment rights.
Based on what you’ve learned about free speech values and privacy/publicity rights, where are some legal/ethical conflicts? Is this a constitutional issue? How can the elements of publicity law and the Lanham Act apply here? Can you see any Supreme Court precedent in this case?