CONTRATTO E ATTRIBUTI IMMATERIALI DELLA PERSONA

The present thesis examines the relationship between contract, on the one hand, and publicity and privacy rights, on the other hand. The possibility to dispose of publicity rights – which, in the Italian system, are not easily separated from privacy rights – by means of contract is traditionally denied, due to the alleged inalienability of such rights. The first part of this work therefore analyses the meaning of inalienability, aiming to investigate the reasons underlying the traditional doctrine, and concludes that, in the modern economy, there are no solid grounds on which to reject the possibility to dispose of one's publicity rights. The thesis then examines the different kinds of contracts in question, which range from merchandising to film-making agreements, from endorsement contracts to agreements aimed to authorize the processing of personal data. The regulation of such contracts - which is not explicitly provided for by the legislator – must take into account the need to protect the person in the disposition of rights which are strongly connected to her personality. For this purpose, these agreements are subject to strict interpretation and the person must be granted the right to recede from the contract in certain qualified circumstances. The thesis therefore analyses such regulation and focuses, more specifically, on the consequences on our subject matter of the legislation on personal data.