## Facts

- Warren E. Spahn was a prominent professional baseball pitcher whose public reputation had commercial value.
- Julian Messner, Inc. published and distributed *The Warren Spahn Story*, marketed as a biography for young readers.
- The book used Spahn’s name and photograph and purported to recount his life.
- The work contained extensive fictionalization, including invented scenes and dialogue and embellished events presented as fact.
- Spahn did not provide written consent for the use of his name, portrait, or picture in connection with the book.
- Spahn sued under New York Civil Rights Law § 51 for damages and an injunction, alleging unauthorized commercial exploitation and injury from false portrayals.
- The trial court found numerous material falsehoods and granted injunctive and monetary relief; the Appellate Division affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether an unauthorized biography of a public figure that is substantially fictionalized but presented as factual is a use of the person’s name and picture “for purposes of trade” under New York Civil Rights Law § 51.
2. Whether the “newsworthy” or public-interest exception to § 51 protects such a publication despite its substantial fictionalization and distortions.

## Decision

- The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment for Spahn.
- The court held that the book’s use of Spahn’s name and photograph in connection with an unauthorized, materially fictionalized biography constituted use “for purposes of trade” within § 51.
- The court held the publication was not insulated by the newsworthiness/public-interest exception because it purported to be factual while substantially inventing and distorting events.
- The injunction and damages awarded to Spahn were sustained.

## Legal Principles

- New York Civil Rights Law § 51 provides a cause of action when a person’s name, portrait, or picture is used in New York “for advertising or for the purposes of trade” without written consent.
- Section 51 is remedial and is construed liberally, but courts recognize limits to avoid conflict with protected dissemination of news and matters of public interest.
- Legitimate reporting and biography about public figures may fall outside § 51, but presenting substantial fictionalization as factual biography can constitute a trade use actionable under the statute.
- A subject’s status as a public figure does not, by itself, authorize others to commercially market materially false or invented portrayals under the subject’s identity.

## Conclusion

The court ruled that an unauthorized book marketed as a factual biography, yet materially fictionalized, was a commercial trade use of Spahn’s name and photograph under § 51 and was not saved by the newsworthiness exception, warranting injunctive relief and damages.


Spahn v. Julian Messner, Inc., 18 N.Y.2d 324 (1966)