Videogame Ads Violate Singer’s ‘Common Law Right of Publicity,’ Says Complaint

Amazon, Microsoft and Sony "publicly exploit" the voice of Dion DiMucci on his recording of the 1960s hit "The Wanderer" to promote sales online of the Fallout 4 videogame for PlayStation and Xbox, violating his “common law right of publicity,” alleged the singer-songwriter in a complaint (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The companies use DiMucci's "identity, appropriating it for their commercial advantage, without consent, which has financially damaged him by the loss of the value of the use of his identity they appropriated and the profits they earned therefrom,” said the complaint. Amazon, Microsoft and Sony lost their authorization to use the song with the October 2016 expiration of a license agreement they signed with ZeniMax Media, which publishes Fallout 4, and Universal Music, the owner of the common-law copyright of DiMucci’s recording, it said. DiMucci “authored” the song in 1961 for now-defunct Laurie Records, said the complaint, though songwriting credits for "The Wanderer" actually belong to Ernie Maresca. Amazon, Microsoft and Sony didn’t comment Friday.