Popsquire

As you know, Popsquire will do just about anything for a blog, especially if it involves watching Oxygen’s Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.  Previously, Popsquire discussed Janice’s potential collision with religious discrimination laws here. 

Now, there is yet another potential collision between pop culture and law in the form of Webisode 307, Part 2.  In this webisode, while Janice undergoes surgery, her models impersonate dead music stars — including Lisa Lopes and Kurt Cobain — as part of this Dragonfly clothing photo shoot.

Popsquire’s perspective…

California law generally prohibits commercial use of a celebrity’s likeness without consent.  Courts have interpreted this prohibition to include a voice impression and even impersonation by a robot.

Popsquire ponders…

Like a good lawyer, Popsquire has compiled a list of questions to ask Oxygen, Janice and/or Dragonfly in order to better analyze the situation:

1. What was the intended use of the celeb impersonator photographs?
2. Did Dragonfly obtain permission to use the celebs’ likeness on its website or catalog?
3. Did Janice or Oxygen inquire whether Dragonfly had obtained permission?
4. Did anyone make a profit from the celeb impersonator pics?
5. Did anyone make any effort to distinguish the looks of the models from the celebs invoked by them?

Answers, please.  Don’t keep Popsquire waiting.  He can be very impatient…

Yes, Popsquire will do anything for a blog.  He even watches Oxygen’s The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency for pop culture/law collisions.  Well, surpise, surprise, the often entertaining Janice Dickinson, gives us some material in Season 3.

If you haven’t been watching, shame on you, but here’s what you need to know…

Janice is always looking for fresh faces to represent.  In Season 3, she finds Dominique working as a food server at California Pizza Kitchen.  Shortly after, Janice asks her models, including Dominique, to pose nude for a senior citizen art class.  Dominique tells Janice that she is not comfortable with the assignment due to her Christian faith. 

In the scenes that follow, Janice: (1) expresses her discontent with Dominique’s refusal to pose nude; (2) insists that all models must be comfortable working in the nude; and (3) opines that she cannot work with models who won’t work in the nude, regardless of their religious reasons for it.  Click here to watch for yourself.

Popsquire’s perspective…

Oh Janice, while Popsquire understands your frustration with models who won’t disrobe, you may want to read up on the California Talent Agency Act, which expressly states: “It shall be unlawful for any licensee to refuse to represent any artist on account of that artist’s race, color, creed, sex, national origin, religion, or handicap.”

Don’t fret, Janice.  Popsquire has your back.  You may have a legitimate argument that you are not required to accommodate a model’s religious beliefs and practices if doing so would impose an undue hardship on the agency’s  legitimate business interests.  

Popsquire now has no choice but to watch all season.  The collision between pop culture and law has no end.