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Judge rules that Marilyn Monroe's right of publicity ended at death

From Yahoo News:

A New York federal judge has ruled that Marilyn Monroe's right of publicity died when she did in 1962, paving the way for family members of the late photographer Sam Shaw to continue selling and licensing images of the icon, including the photo of her standing above a subway gate. [Caption is Shaw Family Archives Ltd. v. CMG Worldwide, Inc.].

Monroe's estate sued Shaw Family Archives and Bradford Licensing Inc. in 2005 in Indiana alleging violations of the superstar's right of publicity by using her name, image and likeness for commercial purposes without consent. The suit was brought under Indiana's broad 1994 Right of Publicity Act, which recognizes a descendible postmortem right of publicity. Shaw's family and several others then filed a declaratory relief action over the dispute in New York federal court.

The dispute arises out of the sale of T-shirts by Target featuring an image of Monroe that was taken by Shaw. The archive also owns a Web site that allows customers to license Monroe's image and likeness for various products. Monroe's estate claimed its right of publicity was devised through the residuary clause in her will that included all property "to which (she) shall be in any way entitled."

The estate's Indiana case was eventually transferred to New York and consolidated with the Shaw case. In her ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon found that at the time of her death in 1962, Monroe did not have any postmortem rights of publicity under the law of any relevant state, including California, where she died, and New York, which was purportedly her legal residence, though that is under dispute.

California began recognizing descendible publicity rights in 1984; New York limits its statutory publicity rights to living persons. ...

It is sort of ironic that Monroe's beneficiaries are out of luck, but the grandchildren of the now deceased man who took her photograph will be collecting copyright royalties for decades to come. See also.

Posted by Ann Bartow on May 4, 2007 09:14 AM |

Comments

I would be interested in knowing how rights of publicity are valued for the purpose of estate tax.

Posted by: Jardinero1 [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 4, 2007 10:39 AM

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