The Kobe Bryant Act Aims to Protect Families of Deceased Victims

By Hannah Odekirk

After a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputy took personal photos of the January crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and nine others, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a unanimously supported bill in September. This bill makes it a misdemeanor for first responders to capture photos of deceased victims on the scene for any purpose not related to official law enforcement business or genuine public interest. Anyone convicted may be subject to a $1,000 fine.

California Assemblyman Mike Gipson penned Assembly Bill 2655—which he called The Kobe Bryant Act of 2020—not because the victim was famous. Regardless of the victim’s fame, taking photos of deceased victims for personal use falls outside of first responders’ oath of responsibility, he explained.

“We have to make sure [they don’t] abuse the rights and privileges they have,” Gipson said. “The Kobe Bryant Act is about recognizing and respecting the dignity of human beings, especially after their passing.”

Gipson, who also chairs the Select Committee on Police Reform, decided to pursue state legislation on this issue instead of localized department policy because he recognized the challenges of getting police agencies to implement meaningful change internally.

“A lot of departments can create department policies, but those policies are only good as long as they’re enforced,” Gipson said. “We didn’t want some sheriff or chief coming in and doing away with that policy.”

Gipson noted that Los Angeles County Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, was a vigorous sponsor of The Kobe Bryant Act because the catalytic infraction happened in his department.

“[He wanted] to show leadership from the top… to make sure this doesn’t happen any longer,” Gipson said.

The LA County Sheriff’s office did not respond to our requests for comment though, and the Los Angeles Police Department also declined to comment.

While the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department also declined The Advocate’s request for an interview on how this new law will be enforced locally, the Department noted that this had not been an issue for them before.

“None of our deputies have been involved in any type of incident related to or applicable to ‘The Kobe Bryant Act 2020’ in Santa Clara County. Our deputies strive to maintain the highest level of public trust while conducting their investigations, especially when it comes to death investigations,” the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Gipson is confident that The Kobe Bryant Act will encourage further legislation after it goes into effect in January 2021. Indeed, AB 2655 does complement the existing post mortem right of publicity laws that exist now in California and a number of other states.

California law currently regulates the use of a celebrity’s “name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness” to sell goods or services after their passing. Gipson’s Kobe Bryant Act expands upon this protection by providing family members of deceased celebrities with a means to prevent first responders from using their loved one’s image for shock value.

This is not to say that only celebrities and their families can avail themselves of the protections provided by The Kobe Bryant Act or post mortem right of publicity statutes. In fact, in 2010, California extended post mortem rights of publicity to natural persons whose likeness had value at the time of their death or because of their death. This was in response to anti-war protestors printing the names of soldiers that died in combat on t-shirts and other merchandise.

Similarly, The Kobe Bryant Act protects families of non-celebrities whose images are wrongfully captured by a first responder. The key difference between existing post mortem right of publicity laws and The Kobe Bryant Act is that the former focuses on a person profiting off their use of the image, while the latter focuses on first responders’ duties to the people they serve.

William A. Fenwick, a founding partner of Fenwick & West LLP, argues that AB 2655 may be a step in the right direction, where protecting privacy rights are concerned, but it remains just that: a step. The Kobe Bryant Act reminds Fenwick of how most legislatures have approached privacy issues.

“They pick away at little pieces of it,” Fenwick said. “But there’s still a long way to go.”

Gipson said The Kobe Bryant Act of 2020 is about recognizing and respecting the dignity of human beings, especially after their passing. Kobe and Gianna Bryant, John, Keri, and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, and Ara Zobayan all lost their lives in that helicopter crash. The Kobe Bryant Act of 2020 is designed to ensure that future families and loved ones are not re-traumatized by the callousness of those who are charged to serve and protect.

(Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the November 2020 [Volume 51, Issue 2] edition of The Advocate.)