Rhode Island § 9-1-28 § 9-1-28. Action for unauthorized use of name, portrait, or picture.

Rhode Island Statutes

§ 9-1-28 — § 9-1-28. Action for unauthorized use of name, portrait, or picture.

Rhode Island § 9-1-28

Title 9COURTS and CIVIL PROCEDURE–PROCEDURE GENERALLY

Ch. 9-1Causes of Action

This text of Rhode Island § 9-1-28 (§ 9-1-28. Action for unauthorized use of name, portrait, or picture.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-28 (2026).

Text

§ 9-1-28. Action for unauthorized use of name, portrait, or picture.
(a) Any person whose name, portrait, or picture is used within the state for commercial
            purposes without his or her written consent may bring an action in the superior court
            against the person so using his or her name, portrait, or picture to prevent and restrain
            the use thereof, and may recover damages for any injuries sustained by reason of such
            use. If the defendant shall have knowingly used the person's name, portrait, or picture
            in such manner as is prohibited or unlawful, the court, in its discretion, may award
            the plaintiff treble the amount of the damages sustained b

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§ 9-1-28. Action for unauthorized use of name, portrait, or picture.

(a) Any person whose name, portrait, or picture is used within the state for commercial purposes without his or her written consent may bring an action in the superior court against the person so using his or her name, portrait, or picture to prevent and restrain the use thereof, and may recover damages for any injuries sustained by reason of such use. If the defendant shall have knowingly used the person's name, portrait, or picture in such manner as is prohibited or unlawful, the court, in its discretion, may award the plaintiff treble the amount of the damages sustained by him or her.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to:

(1) Apply to the use of names, portraits, or pictures in political speech or on matters of public concern;

(2) Prevent any person practicing the profession of photography from exhibiting in or about his or her or its establishment specimens of the work of the person or establishment, unless the exhibiting of any such specimen is continued after written notice objecting to it has been given by the person portrayed; or

(3) Prevent any person from using the name, portrait, or picture of any manufacturer or dealer in connection with the goods, wares, and merchandise manufactured, produced, or dealt in by the manufacturer or dealer which the person has sold or disposed of with the name, portrait, or picture used in connection therewith, or from using the name, portrait, or picture of any author, composer, or artist in connection with any literary, musical, or artistic production of the author, composer, or artist which the person has sold or disposed of with the name, portrait, or picture used in connection therewith.