Florida Statute 540.08
“Unauthorized publication of name or likeness”
What it means
No one may publish, print, display, or otherwise publicly use a person's name, portrait, photograph, or likeness for trade, commercial, or advertising purposes without express consent. Who can consent follows a strict order: the person; anyone the person authorized in writing to license commercial use; and after death, anyone so authorized in writing — or, only if none exists, any one member of the class of surviving spouse and surviving children.
Remedies include an injunction, damages — expressly including a reasonable royalty — and punitive damages. Bona fide news reporting and matters of legitimate public interest are carved out. And the right has an end date: no action lies for uses occurring more than 40 years after death.
- Covers commercial, trade, and advertising use of a name, portrait, photograph, or likeness — not news, public-interest coverage, or resale of consented works.
- A written licensing authorization controls consent after death, outranking the family.
- Without one, consent may come from any one of the surviving spouse and surviving children.
- Remedies: injunction, damages including a reasonable royalty, and punitive damages.
- No action may be brought for uses occurring more than 40 years after the person's death.
How it plays out
For an estate with a licensable name, the consent hierarchy is the drafting instruction: a signed written authorization — naming a trustee, company, or individual — controls the right for 40 years, and without one any single spouse or child can consent, which is how licensing programs turn into family litigation. We ask about publicity value in every plan for athletes, performers, and public figures, and we calendar the 40-year horizon when valuing the right, because Florida's clock genuinely runs out.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 540.08 does real work:
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