Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.

Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.
Argued April 25, 1977
Decided June 28, 1977
Full case nameHugo Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company
Citations433 U.S. 562 (more)
97 S. Ct. 2849; 53 L. Ed. 2d 965; 1977 U.S. LEXIS 145; 205 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 741; 40 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 1485; 5 Ohio Op. 3d 215; 2 Media L. Rep. 2089
Case history
PriorOhio Supreme Court, 47 Ohio St.2d 224, 351 N.E.2d 454 (1976), reversed; cert. granted 429 U.S. 1037 (1977)
Holding
The First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the news media from civil liability when they broadcast a performer's entire act without his consent, nor does the Constitution prevent a State from requiring broadcasters to compensate performers.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
MajorityWhite, joined by Burger, Stewart, Blackmun, Rehnquist
DissentPowell, joined by Brennan, Marshall
DissentStevens
Laws applied
U.S. Const., Amends. I and XIV

Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., 433 U.S. 562 (1977), was an important U.S. Supreme Court case concerning rights of publicity. The Court held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the news media from civil liability when they broadcast a performer's entire act without his consent, and the Constitution does not prevent a state from requiring broadcasters to compensate performers. It was the first time (and so far the only time) the Supreme Court heard a case on rights of publicity.