Models’ Publicity Rights Win Over Strip Clubs May Prove Limited

A victory by six models at the Second Circuit against a group of strip clubs may have vindicated their publicity rights, but the precedent set under the ruling may not be as helpful to models as it may seem.

The clubs violated the models’ state law publicity rights by using photos of them in ads, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found. It didn’t matter that the models signed releases relinquishing all rights to the photos because the strip clubs themselves didn’t acquire any rights, the court said as it reversed a lower court.

The finding that ...