Mark Hamill vs. Autographed Memorabilia: The Revenge of the Dark Side

A California-law championed by the Star Wars actor hurts booksellers and tramples on free speech.

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Bill Petrocelli doesn't look like someone routinely engaged in illegal activity by the jovial smile on his face as he greets customers around the San Francisco location of Book Passage, a small chain of stores that he co-owns in the Bay Area.

Since the beginning of 2017, however, he's been routinely violating a California's law regulating autographed items. Small bookstore owners like Petrocelli now must adhere to a laundry list of requirements that threaten their livelihoods and restrict First Amendment rights.

"This law—it's like dropping a bomb," says Petrocelli, "it's terrible." Book Passage holds about 800 events each year featuring the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, Caitlyn Jenner, and Ozzy Osborne. "We really kind of thrive on that," Petrocelli says. "I think it's the best part of the book business, when the author and the reader have a get together in your store and have a little discussion. It's wonderful."

The law requires dealers to provide a certificate of authenticity for every signed book, which includes a description of the item, the identity of the person who signed it, the date, time and place of the sale; the dealer's name and address; information about a witnesses to the signing; and information about a previous owner, if the item was obtained secondhand. And they have to retain that information for seven years.

"It's a certificate of authenticity requirement on steroids," says Anastasia Boden, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, who is helping Petrocelli sue the state over the law. "Anything that requires extra paperwork is going to drive up the cost of doing business."

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