Cheatham v. Paisano Publications, Inc.
United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
891 F. Supp. 381 (1995)
Cynthia Cheatham (plaintiff) designed and sold unique clothing, including a pair of jeans with fishnet cutouts, which she wore to a biker festival. Paisano Publications (defendant) published a photo showing her from the waist to thighs, without identifying her or showing her face, in a magazine story about the festival. A t-shirt company later acquired rights to the image and advertised a t-shirt featuring it in another Paisano magazine. Cheatham sued for invasion of privacy and commercial exploitation of her likeness, moving for summary judgment; Paisano moved to dismiss.
Whether a claim for violation of the right of publicity, grounded in the common-law right to privacy, is available only to a plaintiff whose identity has commercial value.