For some time now, comic book entrepreneur Todd McFarlane has been locked in a legal dispute with hockey player Tony Twist. Briefly: McFarlane named a villain in one of his comic books after Twist as a sort of in-joke and (he said) tribute. Twist sued, claiming that his right of publicity had been violated by the use of his name. McFarlane won a lower-court decision on the grounds that his use of Twist's name fell within the purview of the First Amendment. The Missouri Supreme Court reversed that judgment and reinstated a huge cash award to Twist, asserting that since this involved merchandise and not commentary, the First Amendment did not apply. McFarlane's attorneys are attempting to get the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and reverse the Missouri Supreme Court, and briefs are now being filed to urge for or against this intervention.
Attorney Eugene Volokh writes one of the most-read legal weblogs on the Internet. Here, he summarizes the case and provides this link to an Adobe PDF file of the brief he is filing on behalf of Michael Crichton, Larry David, Jeremiah Healy, Elmore Leonard, Harry Shearer, Ron Shelton, Scott Turow, Paul Weitz, and the Authors Guild, Inc. They all believe that the lower Missouri court was right and the Missouri Supreme Court was wrong. Here's a link to the latter's decision.
For what it's worth, I'm with Todd on this. And as I said elsewhere, I'm amazed that there are a few folks in the comic book business who ought to be on his side but, in a burst of schadenfreude, are rooting against him. If he loses this one, we all lose. (Thank you, Bob Cosgrove, for calling my attention to Volokh's posting.)