Minnesota proposes the PRINCE Act to preserve rights in a name, etc. after death.

An 11th hour piece of legislation prompted by Prince's untimely death on April 21 was introduced today in the Minnesota state legislature. The Personal Rights in Names Can Endure Act, or PRINCE Act (we see what they did there), aims to protect multiple aspects of an individual postmortem, including name, image, voice, and signature.

Article here (via Vice Magazine).

The bill, if enacted, would grant extended publicity control to heirs of Prince's estate and limit outide use of his name and likeness in commercial pursuits. Rep. Joe Hoppe, who introduced the PRINCE Act, called it an attempt "to recognize the right of publicity postmortem." Though the bill's supporters cite the artist's death as direct inspiration for the proposal, its protections would apply to all Minnesotans, not just celebrities, and apply for 50 years following an individual's death. It would also apply retroactively to those who died before its signing.

Federal Appeals Court holds that chicken sandwich isn't copyrightable

A ham sandwich, as popular lore has it, may well be indictable.

But a chicken sandwich isn’t copyrightable, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Agreeing with a trial court’s decision, the 1st U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday held (PDF) that a fast-food worker seeking a $10 million share of the profits allegedly reaped from his chicken sandwich concept is out of luck.

Article here.  (via abajournal).