[Effective Until 7/1/2024]

(a) The chancery and circuit court having jurisdiction for any action arising pursuant to this part may grant injunctions on such terms as it may deem reasonable to prevent or restrain the unauthorized use of an individual‘s name, photograph, or likeness. As part of such injunction, the court may authorize the confiscation of all unauthorized items and seize all instrumentalities used in connection with the violation of the individual’s rights. All instrumentalities seized pursuant to enforcing an injunction under this subsection (a) shall be liquidated and used to satisfy statutory damages, if damages are recovered by the rights holder.

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-25-1106

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Individual: means human being, living or dead. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Likeness: means the use of an image of an individual for commercial purposes. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • Person: means any firm, association, partnership, corporation, joint stock company, syndicate, receiver, common law trust, conservator, statutory trust, or any other concern by whatever name known or however organized, formed, or created, and includes not-for-profit corporations, associations, educational and religious institutions, political parties, community, civic, or other organizations. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • Photograph: means any photograph or photographic reproduction, still or moving, or any videotape or live television transmission, of any individual, so that the individual is readily identifiable. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) At any time while an action under this part is pending, the court may order the impounding, on such terms as it may deem reasonable, of all materials or any part thereof claimed to have been made or used in violation of the individual’s rights, and such court may enjoin the use of all plates, molds, matrices, masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such materials may be reproduced.
(c) As part of a final judgment or decree, the court may order the destruction or other reasonable disposition of all materials found to have been made or used in violation of the individual’s rights, and of all plates, molds, matrices, masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such materials may be reproduced.
(d)

(1) An individual is entitled to recover the actual damages suffered as a result of the knowing use or infringement of such individual’s rights and any profits that are attributable to such use or infringement which are not taken into account in computing the actual damages. Profit or lack thereof by the unauthorized use or infringement of an individual’s rights shall not be a criteria of determining liability.
(2) An individual is entitled to recover three (3) times the amount to which the individual is entitled under subdivision (d)(1), plus reasonable attorney fees, if a person knowingly uses or infringes the rights of a member of the armed forces in violation of this part. As used in this subdivision (d)(2), “member of the armed forces” means a member of the United States armed forces or a member of a reserve or Tennessee national guard unit who is in, or was called into, active service or active military service of the United States, as defined in § 58-1-102.
(e) The remedies provided for in this section are cumulative and shall be in addition to any others provided for by law.