Atkinson v. John E. Doherty & Co.

46 L.R.A. 219, 80 N.W. 285, 121 Mich. 372, 1899 Mich. LEXIS 581
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 46 L.R.A. 219 (Atkinson v. John E. Doherty & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atkinson v. John E. Doherty & Co., 46 L.R.A. 219, 80 N.W. 285, 121 Mich. 372, 1899 Mich. LEXIS 581 (Mich. 1899).

Opinion

Hooker, J.

The late Col. John Atkinson.was a well-known lawyer and politician. After his death, the defendant, a manufacturer of cigars, brought out an article that it named the John Atkinson cigar, and sought to put it upon the market under a label bearing that name and a likeness of Col. John Atkinson. The widow of Col. Atkinson filed a bill to restrain this, and upon the hearing the circuit court made a decree dismissing the bill with costs, and the complainant has appealed.

As a rule, names are received at the hands of parents, —surnames by inheritance, and Christian names at their will. But this is not an invariable rule, for many names are adopted or assumed by those who bear them. But in [373]*373neither case is the right to the use of a name exclusive'. A disreputable person or criminal may select the name of the most exemplary for his child, or for his horse or dog or monkey. We have never heard this questioned. No reason occurs to us for limiting the right to apply a name, though borne by another person, to animate objects. Why not a Jphn Atkinson wagon, as well as a John Atkinson Jones or horse or dog? Society understands this, and may be depended upon to make proper allowances in such cases; and although each individual member may, in his own case, suffer a feeling of humiliation when his own name or that of some beloved or respected friend is thus used, he will usually, in the case of another, regard it as a trifle. We feel sure that society would not think the less of Col. John Atkinson if cigars bearing his name were sold in the shops. Nor are his friends brought into disrepute thereby. So long as such use does not amount to a libel, we are of the opinion that Col. John Atkinson would himself be remediless, were he alive, and the same is true of his friends who survive.

It is urged in this case that the connection of the name with cigars wounds the feelings of the widow, and extreme and improbable illustrations of the possibilities of a rule which should permit the indiscriminate use of names of deceased persons are given. We appreciate the indelicacy of the man who should join the funeral procession of Col. John Atkinson in a carriage bearing the legend, “The Col. John Atkinson cigar,” and we can readily understand that it would annoy the friends of the deceased. The . sentiment which prompts the feeling of annoyance at such an act is aroused by any aspersion of the dead. It is natural and commendable, as are all recognitions of the proprieties of life; but it doe^not follow that such an act is an actionable wrong, or that equity will intervene by injunction to prevent it, though we are quite sure that the disapproval of society would ordinarily have the latter effect.

Stress is laid upon the fact that the picture of Col. John [374]*374Atkinson is to be displayed upon this label. It is claimed that a man has no right to print and circulate pictures of another, except by his consent, or where, by reason of his celebrity, the public has an interest in him. This is a proposition of modern origin, and is said to have the support of some cases. We will examine the authorities that have been cited, and such as we have been able to find.

In the January, 1869, Law Register (volume 8, N. S. p. 1), is an article devoted to a discussion of “The Legal Regions of Photographs,” in which the writer expresses the opinion that if a photograph clandestinely taken, and representing its original in a ridiculous light, or publishing his personal defects, were uttered maliciously, to his damage, it would doubtless be a libel in all of the States, and particularly in those in which the old maxim, “The greater the truth, the greater the libel,” is still in force. That it would-be a libel, if a true picture, in States where the truth may be shown in defense, is not so clear as it may seem; but there is no want of harmony in the decisions upon the proposition that a picture may be libelous. The author mentions the case of an Austrian lady of rank who recovered damages from her photographer for selling copies of her photograph as that of some notorious woman in another city. He says, “What was the ground or the nature and extent of recovery we are not told;” and adds that, if no special damage were found, it could not be doubted that “her right to control the market of her own beauty could not have been denied her by any court, and that she must have recovered on the ground that that right had been infringed, if on no other.” We are at a loss to know just what is meant by this. If only that, having produced or caused to be produced a negative and photograph of herself, it was, like private writings, entitled to protection, it has the semblance of support by a number of cases. But if it is meant that no person has, without permission, the right to have or sell pictures of another, it is a different proposition, and we know of no case decided by a court of last resort that so holds.

[375]*375In 1890 prominence was given to this subject by an article in 4 Harv. Law Bev. 193, entitled, “The Bight to Privacy,” in which the writers urge the “right to be let alone,” and the necessity for the protection of citizens against invasions of their domestic affairs through the newspaper, the camera, and numerous mechanical devices, “ which [they say] threaten to make good the prediction that ‘ what is whispered in the closet shall be proclaimed from the housetops.’ ” The right to privacy in a broader sense than before known to the common law is asserted. The article cites a number of cases, some of them relating to pictures, and criticises the courts for basing their decisions upon property or contract rights. These cases relate to letters, diaries, and other private writings, paintings, sculptures, music, etc. In this connection the case of Prince Albert v. Strange, 1 Macn. & G. 25, is cited, wherein the defendant was restrained from publishing some etchings made by their majesties, the king and queen. The burden of the article is to establish a right of privacy which shall be recognized and protected by the courts, and it is urged that “in such right, as in the right not to' be assaulted or beaten (i. e., the right to be let alone),” there inheres the quality of being owned or possessed; and, as that is the distinguishing attribute of property, there may be some propriety in speaking of those rights as property, though it is admitted that they bear little resemblance to what is ordinarily comprehended under that term. Notwithstanding the unanimity of the courts in resting the decisions adverted to upon property rights, the authors assert that “it is in reality not the principle of private property, but that of an inviolate personality.”

An examination of the article will show that authoritative decisions which support the theory advocated are wanting. Among them are several cases involving pictures: Prince Albert v. Strange, supra; Tuck v. Priester, L. R. 19 Q. B. Div. 629; Pollard v. Photographic Co., L. R. 40 Ch. Div. 345. But these are [376]*376based upon property or contract rights, as these terms are .commonly understood. At the time of the writing of this article, the case of Manola v. Stevens was pending in a court at New York. An actress sought to restrain the publication of a picture of herself, taken surreptitiously while she was performing her role upon the stage. It was not contested, however, and we are not advised that it was reported. See New York Times of June 15, 18, 21, 1890. The Manola Case,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

John Doe v. Methodist Hosp., etal
Indiana Supreme Court, 1998
Doe v. Methodist Hospital
690 N.E.2d 681 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1997)
Anderson v. Fisher Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
712 P.2d 803 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Hayes
414 A.2d 318 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Young v. That Was the Week That Was
312 F. Supp. 1337 (N.D. Ohio, 1969)
Weeren v. Evening News Assn.
152 N.W.2d 676 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1967)
Eick v. Perk Dog Food Co.
106 N.E.2d 742 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1952)
Pallas v. Crowley, Milner & Co.
33 N.W.2d 911 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1948)
Berg v. Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co.
79 F. Supp. 957 (D. Minnesota, 1948)
Lewis v. Physicians & Dentists Credit Bureau, Inc.
177 P.2d 896 (Washington Supreme Court, 1947)
Elmhurst v. Pearson
153 F.2d 467 (D.C. Circuit, 1946)
Elmhurst v. Shoreham Hotel
58 F. Supp. 484 (District of Columbia, 1945)
Goldman v. United States
316 U.S. 129 (Supreme Court, 1942)
Hinish v. Meier & Frank Co.
113 P.2d 438 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1941)
Themo v. New England Newspaper Publishing Co.
27 N.E.2d 753 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1940)
Judevine v. Benzies-Montanye Fuel & Warehouse Co.
269 N.W. 295 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1936)
People v. Robert R. McBride & Co.
159 Misc. 5 (New York City Magistrates' Court, 1936)
Hanna Mfg. Co. v. Hillerich & Bradsby Co.
78 F.2d 763 (Fifth Circuit, 1935)
Thayer v. Worcester Post Co.
187 N.E. 292 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1933)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
46 L.R.A. 219, 80 N.W. 285, 121 Mich. 372, 1899 Mich. LEXIS 581, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atkinson-v-john-e-doherty-co-mich-1899.