## Facts

- Warren Spahn, a well-known professional baseball pitcher, sued a publisher and an author over a book marketed as *The Warren Spahn Story*, presented as a biography for young readers.
- The book used Spahn’s name and photograph and was sold commercially (about 16,000 copies at $3.25 each) without Spahn’s written consent.
- The author did not interview Spahn or people close to him and instead relied on secondary sources while inventing scenes, conversations, and private-life details.
- The book contained extensive fabricated or erroneous content, including intimate portrayals of family and romantic relationships and a false claim that Spahn received a Bronze Star in World War II.
- Spahn alleged the publication commercially exploited his identity and caused humiliation and mental anguish by portraying a false version of his life.
- Spahn sought an injunction against further publication and distribution and sought damages under New York Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51.

## Issues

1. Whether selling a purported biography that uses a living person’s name and photograph, but is substantially fictionalized, is a use “for purposes of trade” without consent in violation of N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51.
2. Whether the subject’s status as a public figure and the newsworthiness of his career immunize the publisher when the work presents invented material as factual biography.

## Decision

- The court held defendants liable under N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51 for using Spahn’s name and photograph without consent “for purposes of trade.”
- The court rejected the defense that public interest in Spahn’s athletic career permitted pervasive fabrication presented as truthful biography.
- The court granted injunctive relief barring further publication and distribution of the book in its existing form.
- The court awarded damages to compensate for the statutory privacy injury and related humiliation and mental anguish.

## Legal Principles

- N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51 prohibits the nonconsensual use of a living person’s name, portrait, or picture for advertising purposes or for purposes of trade.
- Newsworthiness and public-interest protections for publications about public figures do not shield a work that presents itself as factual but attributes fabricated events and characteristics to the subject.
- A public figure does not surrender all statutory privacy protections and is not required to accept a publisher’s invented “biography” marketed as true.
- Where statutory misuse is shown, courts may award both damages and injunctive relief to prevent ongoing harm from continued distribution.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that marketing and selling a purportedly factual biography that uses a public figure’s identity while substantially inventing private-life details constitutes an unlawful trade use under N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51, warranting both an injunction and damages.


Spahn v. Julian Messner, Inc., 250 N.Y.S.2d 529 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. 1964)