PERSONA SELEBRITI: HAK PERUNDANGAN DI MALAYSIA

Abstract

A celebrity has its own persona and has a right that can be protected by the law. The status of a celebrity can be obtained in certain circumstances such as through birth or descent as well as through skills or occupation. Celebrity rights are special and unique rights. This is because the right seems to be the property and belongs to the celebrity. The words celebrity is often associated with fame, money, power, publicity, extravaganza, achievements, fandom, culture, and is sometimes matters relating to scandal or even for something shameful. Accordingly, the public has no right to arbitrarily use the celebrity's right. Celebrity rights can be made up of three main rights which are personality, privacy, and publicity rights. In the age of social media, almost everyone can be a celebrity. Therefore, legal protection for celebrities is very important to be discussed. In Malaysia, there is no specific legislation regarding celebrity rights such as those found in other countries such as the United States. An issue that needs to be taken into account is in the absence of the specific law, how do the rights of these celebrities are legally protected in Malaysia. Therefore, this article discusses celebrity rights and related laws in Malaysia, especially under intellectual property law. This article applied the method of legal research through library research. This article concludes that while Malaysia does not have any specific legal provisions for celebrity rights, the infringement of celebrity rights can be catered upon through a variety of relevant laws such as intellectual property law like several provisions relating to copyright and trademark protection. In addition, with the advent of social media, celebrity rights are also protected by laws such as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Privacy-related laws such as the Tort law and the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 can also be used to protect these celebrity rights.