Brown v. Ames

Ames (defendant), doing business as Home Cooking Records, purported to license to Collectibles (defendant) master recordings by Brown and other musicians (plaintiffs), along with rights to use their likenesses and biographical information, to manufacture and sell tapes, CDs, and catalogs bearing the musicians' names and images. The plaintiffs sued Ames, Collectibles, and Collectibles's owners for copyright infringement and, under Texas's tort protecting against unauthorized commercial use of a person's name, image, or likeness, misappropriation. A jury found the defendants liable on both theories, and the defendants appealed the state-law misappropriation ruling, arguing the Copyright Act preempted it.