The recently uncovered story involving Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez 's depiction in sculpture has raised a lot of questions in regards to what rights if any the Bieber's, Gomez's and other Celeb's have in regards to their image being used. We have once again encountered the slippery slope of the first amendment in a way completely unforeseen by the framers of the constitution.
The story involves a sculpted image of the two Au Natural, Photo's of the relatively life size piece show the two, modesty notwithstanding standing side by side genitalia covered by Justin's Maple Leaf, (he's Canadian) and Selena's by a "Star" (not of the wishing variety I would suspect).
The controversy is of course fueled by the fact that Bieber is a minor at 17 and by today's standards he may be off limits. If I were the young celebrities I would be much more concerned with the incredible lack of artistic quality in the piece, overall the work is sophomoric and poorly crafted It lacks detail and artistic definition
I still find it hard to believe that the constitution such as it's written does not allow those who make their living in a large part by the image they craft and present, more control over how those images are used. Trademarks are protected. Logo's have Copyright's yet an actor/entertainer's face and image can be used by anyone and sold for profit regardless of the entertainers wishes.
The rule of law is designed to be tested and I certainly hope that the community continues to test these archaic lines of text for a more accurate definition of free speech and press. This is only the most recent event that leads me to ask why we as American citizens cant "Own" our physical likeness's and allow their use as we see fit.
The other side of the coin of course is the question of artistic quality. And that question of of course entirely subjective. The artist may think he has created a work of art. And some would be quick to agree. I however find that unlike the artist's other works this piece lacks in the areas of movement and artistic design.