NRS597.800. Transferability of right; commercial use upon death; rights of successors in interest; registration of claim; fee.

      1.  The right of publicity established by NRS 597.790 is freely transferable, in whole or in part, by contract, license, gift, conveyance, assignment, devise or testamentary trust by a person or his or her successor in interest.

      2.  If a deceased person has not transferred his or her rights as provided by subsection 1, and he or she has no surviving beneficiary or successor in interest upon his or her death, the commercial use of his or her name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness does not require consent.

      3.  A successor in interest or a licensee of a deceased person may file in the Office of the Secretary of State, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State and upon the payment of a filing fee of $25, a verified application for registration of his or her claim. The application must include:

      (a) The legal and professional name of the deceased person;

      (b) The date of death of the deceased person;

      (c) The name and address of the claimant;

      (d) The basis of the claim; and

      (e) A description of the rights claimed.

      4.  A successor in interest or a licensee of a deceased person may not assert any right against any unauthorized commercial use of the deceased person’s name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness that begins before the filing of an application to register his or her claim.

      5.  A person, firm or corporation seeking to use the name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness of a deceased person for commercial purposes must first make a reasonable effort, in good faith, to discover the identity of any person who qualifies as a successor in interest to the deceased person. A person claiming to be a successor in interest to a deceased person must, within 6 months after the date he or she becomes aware or should reasonably have become aware of an unauthorized commercial use of the deceased person’s name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness, register a claim with the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection 3. Failure to register shall be deemed a waiver of any right of publicity.

      6.  The Secretary of State may microfilm or reproduce by other techniques any document filed pursuant to this section and thereafter destroy the original of the document. The microfilm or other reproduction is admissible in any court of record. The Secretary of State may destroy the microfilm or other reproduction 50 years after the death of the person whose identity is the subject of the claim.

      7.  A claim registered pursuant to this section is a public record.

      (Added to NRS by 1989, 1609)