Bill Text: NY A05605 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Establishes the right of publicity and provides for a private right of action for unlawful dissemination or publication of a sexually explicit depiction of an individual.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-11-30 - SIGNED CHAP.304 [A05605 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05605-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5605--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 14, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  WEINSTEIN,  DINOWITZ,  GUNTHER, ENGLEBRIGHT,
          WEPRIN, ARROYO, NOLAN, DenDEKKER -- Multi-Sponsored by  --  M.  of  A.
          BRAUNSTEIN,  D'URSO, FAHY, HEVESI, JAFFEE, STIRPE, TAYLOR -- read once
          and referred to the Committee on Judiciary  --  committee  discharged,
          bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as amended and recommitted to said
          committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to amend the civil rights law and the arts and cultural affairs
          law, in relation to the right of privacy and the right  of  publicity;
          and  to  amend  the  civil  practice law and rules, in relation to the
          timeliness of commencement of an action for violation of the right  of
          publicity

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 50 of the civil rights law  is  renumbered  section
     2  50-f and a new section 50 is added to read as follows:
     3    §  50.  Definitions.    For the purposes of sections fifty-f, fifty-g,
     4  fifty-h, fifty-i and fifty-one of  this  article,  the  following  terms
     5  shall have the following meanings:
     6    1.  "Authorized  representative"  means  an attorney, talent agent, or
     7  personal manager authorized to represent the individual, or if the indi-
     8  vidual does not have an attorney, talent agent, or personal  manager,  a
     9  labor union representing performers in audiovisual work.
    10    2.  "Deceased  individual"  means  a natural person who has died while
    11  domiciled in the state of New York.
    12    3. "Digital replica" means a newly created, original computer-generat-
    13  ed or electronic performance of a living or deceased individual's  like-
    14  ness or voice in a separate and newly created, original expressive sound
    15  recording  or audiovisual work that depicts the likeness or voice of the
    16  individual being portrayed. A digital  replica  is  included  within  an
    17  individual's  portrait.    A digital replica does not  include the elec-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05914-06-9
        A. 5605--B                          2

     1  tronic reproduction, computer generated or other digital re-mastering of
     2  an  expressive  sound  recording  or  audiovisual  work  of  a  person's
     3  original or recorded performance.
     4    4. "Secretary" means the secretary of state.
     5    5.  "Fund-raising" means an organized activity to solicit donations of
     6  money or other goods or services from persons or entities by  an  organ-
     7  ization, company or public entity.
     8    6. "Expressive sound recording or audiovisual work" includes an audio-
     9  book,  interactive  game,  live  performance, movie, radio or television
    10  program, song, or like  media  if  it  is  fictional,  nonfictional,  or
    11  musical entertainment.
    12    7. "Individual" means a natural person.
    13    8.  "Name"  means the actual or assumed name, or nickname, of a living
    14  or deceased individual that identifies that individual.
    15    9. "Nude" means the realistic display of genitals, pubic area, anus, a
    16  female's post-pubescent nipple or areola, including the use of technolo-
    17  gy to depict the body parts of another as being those of the  individual
    18  or to impose nude body parts onto the individual.
    19    10. "Person" means any natural person, firm, association, partnership,
    20  corporation,  company,  syndicate, receiver, common law trust, conserva-
    21  tor, statutory trust, or any other entity  by  whatever  name  known  or
    22  however organized, formed or created, and includes not-for-profit corpo-
    23  rations, associations, educational and religious institutions, political
    24  parties, and community, civic or other organizations.
    25    11.  "Persona" means, individually or collectively, the name, portrait
    26  or picture, voice, or signature of an individual.
    27    12. "Right of privacy" means a personal right, which protects  against
    28  the unauthorized use of a living individual's name, portrait or picture,
    29  voice,  or signature for advertising purposes or purposes of trade with-
    30  out written consent and the mental, emotional, or reputational  injuries
    31  sustained, extinguished upon death.
    32    13.  "Right of publicity" means an independent property right, derived
    33  from and independent of the right of privacy, which protects  the  unau-
    34  thorized  use  of  a  living  or deceased individual's name, portrait or
    35  picture, voice, or signature for advertising  purposes  or  purposes  of
    36  trade without written consent and the pecuniary loss sustained.
    37    14. "Sexual acts" means masturbation, sexual intercourse, oral or anal
    38  sexual  conduct,  penetration  of,  or  with,  an object, bestiality, or
    39  transfer of semen onto the individual.
    40    15. "Signature" means a handwritten or otherwise legally binding  form
    41  of an individual's name, written or authorized by that individual, which
    42  distinguishes the individual from all other individuals.
    43    16. "Visual work" includes:
    44    a. A visual rendition including, but not limited to, a painting, draw-
    45  ing, video, sculpture, mosaic, or photograph; or
    46    b. A work of calligraphy; or
    47    c.  A  work  of graphic art including, but not limited to, an etching,
    48  lithograph, serigraph, or offset print; or
    49    d. A craft work in materials including, but not limited to, a collage,
    50  assemblage, or work consisting of any combination of paragraphs a, b and
    51  c of this subdivision.
    52    § 2. Section 50-f of the civil rights law, as  renumbered  by  section
    53  one of this act, is amended to read as follows:
    54    §  50-f.  Right of privacy and right of publicity.  [A person, firm or
    55  corporation that uses for advertising purposes, or for the  purposes  of
    56  trade, the name, portrait or picture of any living person without having
        A. 5605--B                          3

     1  first  obtained the written consent of such person, or if a minor of his
     2  or her parent or guardian, is guilty  of  a  misdemeanor.]  1.  For  the
     3  purposes  of  the  right of privacy, a living individual's persona shall
     4  not  be  used  for  advertising  purposes  or  purposes of trade without
     5  obtaining the written consent of such person, or if a minor  of  his  or
     6  her  parent  or  guardian.    A  contract  to create a sexually explicit
     7  digital depiction, as defined by subdivision four of  section  fifty-one
     8  of  this article must include a general description of the depiction and
     9  the expressive audiovisual work in which it  will  be  incorporated.  An
    10  individual has two business days to revoke written consent for a sexual-
    11  ly explicit digital depiction unless:
    12    (a)  the individual was given no less than forty-eight hours to review
    13  the terms of consent prior to signing it; or
    14    (b)  the  individual's  authorized  representative  provided   written
    15  approval of the terms of consent.
    16    The written notice of revocation shall be sent to the person in person
    17  or  by sending a revocation by mail, courier, electronic transmission or
    18  facsimile to the person's last known address.
    19    2. For the purposes of the right of publicity, a  living  or  deceased
    20  individual's  persona  is  personal  property,  freely  transferable  or
    21  descendible, in whole or in part by contract or by means of any trust or
    22  testamentary instrument, whether such contract,  trust  or  testamentary
    23  instrument  was  entered  into or executed before or after the effective
    24  date of this subdivision.  Such right of publicity shall not be used for
    25  advertising purposes or the purposes  of  trade  without  obtaining  the
    26  written  consent  of the individual, his or her successors or assigns as
    27  provided for in the provisions of this article pertaining to  the  right
    28  of  publicity.  In  the  case  of a minor, written consent must first be
    29  obtained of his or her parent or guardian for the purposes of an  exclu-
    30  sive  or  non-exclusive  license as limited by section 35.03 of the arts
    31  and cultural affairs law.  A  parent  or  guardian  is  prohibited  from
    32  assigning  a  minor's  right of publicity, and such assignments shall be
    33  unenforceable. Nothing in this section shall limit any other rights such
    34  minor may have.
    35    § 3. The civil rights law is amended  by  adding  three  new  sections
    36  50-g, 50-h and 50-i to read as follows:
    37    § 50-g. Duration of an individual's right of publicity. Every individ-
    38  ual's  right  of publicity shall continue to exist for forty years after
    39  his or her death, and does not expire upon the death of the individual.
    40    § 50-h. Methods of transfer and conveyance. 1. The  rights  recognized
    41  under  the provisions of this article pertaining to the right of public-
    42  ity are freely transferable and descendible, in whole or in part, by the
    43  following:
    44    (a) contract;
    45    (b) license;
    46    (c) gift;
    47    (d) trust;
    48    (e) testamentary document. The rights shall vest in the persons  enti-
    49  tled  to the right of publicity under the testamentary instrument of the
    50  deceased individual effective as of the date of that individual's death.
    51  In the absence of an express transfer in a  testamentary  instrument  of
    52  the  deceased individual's right of publicity, a provision in the testa-
    53  mentary instrument that provides for the disposition of the  residue  of
    54  the  deceased  individual's  assets  shall  be effective to transfer the
    55  rights recognized under this article in accordance  with  the  terms  of
    56  that provision; and
        A. 5605--B                          4

     1    (f)  intestate  succession.  The  right  to publicity of an individual
     2  dying intestate  shall  be  distributed  under  the  laws  of  intestate
     3  succession, and the rights and remedies of this article may be exercised
     4  and  enforced  by  a  person or persons who possess at least a fifty-one
     5  percent  interest  of  the individual's right of publicity. Such persons
     6  shall make a proportional accounting to, and shall act at all  times  in
     7  good  faith  with  respect to, any other person in whom the rights being
     8  enforced have vested.
     9    2. The rights established by the provisions of this article pertaining
    10  to the right of publicity shall also be freely transferable or descendi-
    11  ble by any subsequent  owner  of  the  deceased  individual's  right  to
    12  publicity  as  recognized  by this article. Nothing in the provisions of
    13  this article pertaining to the right of publicity shall be construed  to
    14  render  invalid or unenforceable any contract entered into by a deceased
    15  individual during his or her lifetime by which the  deceased  individual
    16  assigned  the  rights,  in  whole or in part, to use his or her right of
    17  publicity as defined in this article.
    18    3. If any deceased individual does not  transfer  his  or  her  rights
    19  under  this  section  by  contract, license, gift, trust or testamentary
    20  document, and there are no surviving persons as described  in  paragraph
    21  (f) of subdivision one of this section, then the property rights associ-
    22  ated with the deceased individual's right of publicity shall terminate.
    23    4.  Upon the first anniversary of the deceased individual's death, any
    24  person claiming to be a successor in interest  who  possesses  at  least
    25  fifty-one percent interest in the right of publicity of a deceased indi-
    26  vidual under this article or a licensee of a deceased individual's right
    27  of  publicity  shall  register  that  claim with the secretary on a form
    28  prescribed by the secretary and upon payment of a  fee  of  one  hundred
    29  dollars.  A rights holder may voluntarily register the claim at any time
    30  prior  to  the  one-year anniversary of the deceased individual's death.
    31  The form shall include the name and date of death of the deceased  indi-
    32  vidual,  the  name  and address of the claimant, the basis of the claim,
    33  and a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury as to the rights claimed.
    34  Claims registered under this registry  and  information  regarding  such
    35  successors  in  interest to the deceased individual's right of publicity
    36  shall be public records.
    37    5. Upon receipt and after filing of  any  document  pursuant  to  this
    38  section,  the  secretary  shall  post the document along with the entire
    39  registry of persons  claiming  to  be  successors  in  interest  to  the
    40  deceased  individual's right of publicity or a registered licensee under
    41  this section upon an internet website developed  by  the  secretary  for
    42  such  purpose. The secretary may reproduce by digital or other means any
    43  of the filings or documents and destroy the original filing or document.
    44    6. The secretary is authorized to promulgate such regulations as he or
    45  she shall deem necessary to implement  the  provisions  of  subdivisions
    46  four and five of this section.
    47    7.  No  action  shall  be brought under the provisions of this article
    48  pertaining to the right of publicity by reason of any use of a  deceased
    49  individual's  right  of  publicity occurring after the expiration of the
    50  duration of the right of publicity as provided  in  section  fifty-g  of
    51  this article. Furthermore, no action may be brought under the provisions
    52  of  this article pertaining to the right of publicity for a violation of
    53  a deceased individual's right of publicity that occurs  one  year  after
    54  the  anniversary  of  a  deceased individual's death unless the claim is
    55  registered. However, an action may be brought under  the  provisions  of
    56  this  article  pertaining to the right of publicity for a violation of a
        A. 5605--B                          5

     1  deceased individual's right of publicity for any subsequent publication,
     2  manufacturing, distribution, or sale or use in violation of  a  deceased
     3  individual's right of publicity once a claim has been registered.
     4    8.  If there is a right of publicity registration for a deceased indi-
     5  vidual, any person seeking to license the right  of  publicity  for  the
     6  individual shall have the right to rely upon such registration and post-
     7  ing  and  thereby  presume that the person who has registered and posted
     8  his or her claim on the secretary's  public  internet  website  has  the
     9  right to assign or license the deceased individual's right of publicity.
    10  The  registration and posting of a person's claim to a deceased individ-
    11  ual's right of publicity on  the  secretary's  public  internet  website
    12  shall  constitute a defense to an action brought under the provisions of
    13  this article pertaining to the right of publicity.
    14    9. Any person who knowingly makes a false or fraudulent representation
    15  in connection with a registration with  the  secretary  to  establish  a
    16  claim  to  a  deceased  individual's right of publicity pursuant to this
    17  section shall be liable for any damages sustained as  a  result  of  the
    18  false  or  fraudulent registration as determined by a court of competent
    19  jurisdiction.
    20    10. Any document filed with the secretary, whether such document is  a
    21  reproduction  or  an  original, may be destroyed by the secretary forty-
    22  seven years after the death of the individual whose right  of  publicity
    23  has  been  registered  therein.  The secretary shall remove any document
    24  registered and posted upon the public internet website upon showing of a
    25  court order from a court of competent jurisdiction that a person  claim-
    26  ing  to  be  a successor in interest to a deceased individual's right of
    27  publicity has wrongfully registered such claim.
    28    § 50-i. No abrogation of rights and remedies. Nothing contained in the
    29  provisions of this article related to the right of  publicity  shall  be
    30  deemed  to  abrogate or otherwise limit any rights or remedies otherwise
    31  conferred by federal or state law.
    32    § 4. Section 51 of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 674  of
    33  the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
    34    §  51.  Action  for injunction and for damages. 1. Applicability.  The
    35  provisions of this article related to the right or privacy and the right
    36  of publicity apply to an act or event that occurs within New York.
    37    2. Exceptions.  Consent for use of another individual's persona  shall
    38  not  be required, except as otherwise provided in subdivisions three and
    39  four of this section as it relates to digital  replicas,  when  used  in
    40  connection with the following:
    41    (a)  news, public affairs or sports broadcast, including the promotion
    42  of and advertising for a public affairs or sports broadcast, an  account
    43  of public interest or a political campaign;
    44    (b) in:
    45    (i)  a  play,  book,  magazine, newspaper, musical composition, visual
    46  work, work of art, audiovisual work, radio or television program  if  it
    47  is  fictional  or nonfictional entertainment, or a dramatic, literary or
    48  musical work;
    49    (ii) a work of political, public interest or newsworthy value  includ-
    50  ing a comment, criticism, parody, satire or a transformative creation of
    51  a work of authorship; or
    52    (iii) an advertisement or commercial announcement for any of the works
    53  exempted under this article; or
    54    (c)  fundraising  purposes  by  not-for-profit  radio  and  television
    55  stations licensed by the federal communications commission of the United
        A. 5605--B                          6

     1  States, or by not-for-profit advocacy organizations if the  use  is  for
     2  commentary or criticism;
     3    (d)  use  of the right of publicity of a deceased individual where the
     4  licensee or successor in interest has failed  to  register  and  post  a
     5  claim of right under section fifty-h of this article, until such time as
     6  a  claim  of right has been registered and posted as required under such
     7  section.
     8    (e) Nothing in this section relating to the right of  publicity  shall
     9  be  deemed  to  abrogate  or  otherwise limit other rights or exceptions
    10  otherwise conferred by state and federal case law interpretations as  to
    11  the applicability of this section and section fifty of this article made
    12  prior  to  the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand
    13  nineteen which amended this section.
    14    3. Digital replica for purposes of trade in an  expressive  work.  (a)
    15  Use  of  a  digital  replica, as defined in subdivision three of section
    16  fifty of this article, of an individual shall constitute a violation  if
    17  done without the consent of the individual if the use is:
    18    (i)  in an expressive audiovisual or audio work or sound recording, or
    19  in a live performance of a dramatic work, in a manner that  is  intended
    20  to  create,  and  that  does  create, the reasonable impression that the
    21  professional actor represented by the digital replica is performing, the
    22  activity for which he or she is known, in the role of a fictional  char-
    23  acter; or
    24    (ii)  in  an  expressive  audiovisual or sound recording, or in a live
    25  performance of a musical work, in a manner that is intended  to  create,
    26  and  that  does  create, the reasonable impression that the professional
    27  singer, dancer, or  musician  represented  by  the  digital  replica  is
    28  performing,  the  activity for which he or she is known, in such musical
    29  work; or
    30    (iii) in an expressive audiovisual work, in a manner that is  intended
    31  to  create,  and  that  does  create, the reasonable impression that the
    32  professional or college athlete represented by the  digital  replica  is
    33  engaging in an athletic activity for which he or she is known.
    34    (b)  Consent  for  the  use of the digital replica of an individual as
    35  provided in the provisions of this article shall not be required if such
    36  use is:
    37    (i) for purposes of parody, satire, commentary, or criticism;
    38    (ii) in a work of political, public interest, or newsworthy value,  or
    39  similar  work,  including  a  documentary,  regardless  of the degree of
    40  fictionalization in the work;
    41    (iii) de minimis or incidental; or
    42    (iv) the broadcasting or streaming of a sound recording or audiovisual
    43  work that is an electronic reproduction,  computer  generated  or  other
    44  digital re-mastering of a person's original or recorded performance.
    45    4.  Digital  replica  use in a pornographic work. (a) Use of a digital
    46  replica to create sexually explicit material in an expressive  audiovis-
    47  ual work shall constitute a violation of the right of privacy if the use
    48  is  intended to depict and does falsely depict an individual as perform-
    49  ing in the nude or as engaging in sexual acts they did not perform.
    50    (b) Consent shall not be required if such use is:
    51    (i) in relation to a matter of legitimate public purpose; or
    52    (ii) in a work of political or newsworthy value, or similar work; or
    53    (iii) for purposes of commentary or criticism.
    54    5. Limited immunity. The owners or employees of any  medium  used  for
    55  advertising  including, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, radio
    56  and television networks and stations, cable  television  systems,  bill-
        A. 5605--B                          7

     1  boards,  and  transit advertising, who make unauthorized use of an indi-
     2  vidual's persona or digital replica for the purpose  of  advertising  or
     3  trade  shall  not  be  liable  for such use under the provisions of this
     4  article  unless it is established that such owner or employee had actual
     5  knowledge by prior notification of the unauthorized use,  through  pres-
     6  ence  or inclusion, of the individual's persona in such advertisement or
     7  publication.
     8    6. Actions for injunction and for damages.  Any  person  whose  [name,
     9  portrait, picture or voice] persona is used within this state for adver-
    10  tising  purposes  [or],  for  the  purposes of trade without the written
    11  consent first obtained as [above] provided [may] in  the  provisions  of
    12  this  article is entitled to maintain an equitable action in the supreme
    13  court of this state against the person[, firm or corporation]  so  using
    14  his  [name,  portrait,  picture or voice] or her persona, to prevent and
    15  restrain the use thereof; and may also sue and recover damages  for  any
    16  injuries  sustained  including  an  amount equal to the greater of seven
    17  hundred fifty dollars or compensatory damages by reason of such use  and
    18  if  the  defendant  shall  have  knowingly  used  such  person's  [name,
    19  portrait, picture or voice] persona in such manner as  is  forbidden  or
    20  declared  to be unlawful by [section fifty] the provisions of this arti-
    21  cle relating to the right of privacy or  the  right  of  publicity,  the
    22  [jury]  finder  of fact, in its discretion, may award exemplary damages.
    23  [But nothing] A violation of an individual's right of privacy  or  right
    24  of  publicity may occur without regard to whether the use or activity is
    25  for profit or not-for-profit.
    26    7. No defense. It shall not constitute a  defense  to  an  action  for
    27  violation of an individual's right of privacy or right of publicity that
    28  such violation includes more than one individual.
    29    8.  Use  and transfer.   Nothing contained in this article shall be so
    30  construed as to prevent any [person, firm or corporation] individual  or
    31  person  from  selling  or otherwise transferring any material containing
    32  such [name, portrait, picture or voice] persona in  whatever  medium  to
    33  any  user  of such [name, portrait, picture or voice] persona, or to any
    34  third party for sale or transfer directly or indirectly to such a  user,
    35  for  use  in  a  manner lawful under this article[; nothing contained in
    36  this article shall be so construed as to prevent  any  person,  firm  or
    37  corporation,  practicing  the profession of photography, from exhibiting
    38  in or about his or its establishment  specimens  of  the  work  of  such
    39  establishment,  unless  the  same  is  continued by such person, firm or
    40  corporation after written notice objecting thereto has been given by the
    41  person portrayed; and nothing].
    42    9. Visual  work.  Nothing  contained  in  this  article  shall  be  so
    43  construed  as to prevent any person from exhibiting or displaying visual
    44  work, including in a gallery or on an online portfolio specimens of  the
    45  work  or from making the visual work available for licensing purposes in
    46  so far as the terms of the sale or license does not permit the  user  to
    47  violate this article.
    48    10.  Manufacturers,  writers, composers and artists. Nothing contained
    49  in this article shall be so construed as to prevent any person[, firm or
    50  corporation] from using the [name, portrait, picture or voice of] perso-
    51  na owned by any manufacturer or dealer in  connection  with  the  goods,
    52  wares  and  merchandise  manufactured, produced or dealt in by [him] the
    53  manufacturer which [he] has been sold or disposed of  with  such  [name,
    54  portrait,  picture  or  voice]  persona used in connection therewith; or
    55  from using the [name, portrait, picture or voice] persona of any author,
    56  composer or artist in connection with his or her  literary,  musical  or
        A. 5605--B                          8

     1  artistic  productions  which he or she has sold or disposed of with such
     2  [name, portrait, picture or voice] persona used in connection therewith.
     3    11.  Copyright  owners of a sound recording. Nothing contained in this
     4  section shall be construed to prohibit the copyright owner  of  a  sound
     5  recording from disposing of, dealing in, licensing or selling that sound
     6  recording  to any party, if the right to dispose of, deal in, license or
     7  sell such sound recording has been conferred by contract or other  writ-
     8  ten document by such living person or the holder of such right. [Nothing
     9  contained  in  the  foregoing  sentence  shall  be deemed to abrogate or
    10  otherwise limit any rights or remedies otherwise  conferred  by  federal
    11  law or state law.]
    12    12.  Termination  of  post  mortem  right of publicity. Nothing in the
    13  provisions of this article pertaining to the right of publicity shall be
    14  construed as prohibiting the use of the deceased individual's  right  of
    15  publicity  that occurs after the expiration of forty years following his
    16  or her death.   Nor shall anything in the  provisions  of  this  article
    17  pertaining  to the right of publicity be construed as creating liability
    18  or giving rise to any remedy for any actions or  conduct  involving  the
    19  use of a deceased individual's right of publicity that occurred prior to
    20  the  effective  date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen
    21  which amended this section.
    22    13. Statute of limitations. Actions brought under  the  provisions  of
    23  this  article  pertaining  to  the right of publicity shall be commenced
    24  within one year of the date of discovery of the injury to the  plaintiff
    25  or  from  the  date  through  the  exercise of due diligence such injury
    26  should have been discovered by the plaintiff, whichever is earlier.
    27    § 5. The section heading and subdivision 3 of section 215 of the civil
    28  practice law and rules are amended to read as follows:
    29    Actions to be commenced within one year: against sheriff,  coroner  or
    30  constable; for escape of prisoner; for assault, battery, false imprison-
    31  ment, malicious prosecution, libel or slander; for violation of right of
    32  privacy  or  the  right  of publicity; for penalty given to informer; on
    33  arbitration award.
    34    3. an action to recover damages for assault, battery, false  imprison-
    35  ment, malicious prosecution, libel, slander, false words causing special
    36  damages,  or a violation of the right of privacy or the right of public-
    37  ity under [section fifty-one] article five of the civil rights law;
    38    § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 35.03 of the arts and  cultural  affairs
    39  law,  paragraph  (a)  as  amended by chapter 411 of the laws of 2013, is
    40  amended to read as follows:
    41    1. A contract made by an infant or made by a parent or guardian of  an
    42  infant, or a contract proposed to be so made, under which (a) the infant
    43  is  to  perform  or render services as an actor, actress, model, dancer,
    44  musician, vocalist or other performing artist, or as  a  participant  or
    45  player  in  professional sports, [or] (b) a person is employed to render
    46  services to the infant in connection with such services of the infant or
    47  in connection with contracts therefor, or (c) the infant is bound to  an
    48  exclusive  licensing  contract beyond twenty-one months for use of their
    49  persona for advertising purposes or purposes of trade, as defined by the
    50  civil rights law, may be approved by the supreme  court  or  the  surro-
    51  gate's  court as provided in this section where the infant is a resident
    52  of this state or the services of the  infant  are  to  be  performed  or
    53  rendered  in  this  state. If the contract is so approved the infant may
    54  not, either during his minority or upon reaching his majority, disaffirm
    55  the contract on the ground of infancy or assert that the parent or guar-
    56  dian lacked authority to make the contract. A contract modified, amended
        A. 5605--B                          9

     1  or assigned after its approval under this section shall be deemed a  new
     2  contract.
     3    § 7. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
     4  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
     5  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
     6  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
     7  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
     8  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
     9  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
    10  the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
    11  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
    12    § 8. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    13  it shall have become a law, and shall apply to  all  living  individuals
    14  and deceased individuals who died on or after such date.