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April 13, 2006
Who owns Marilyn Monroe?
Speaking of the intangible assets of celebrities, there is a nasty battle brewing over who owns the rights to images of Marilyn Monroe, according to the Wall Street Journal:
More than 40 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe's photos are used to hawk everything from T-shirts and posters to coffee mugs and key chains. Now, the late actress is at the center of a bitter legal dispute over who controls the rights to her profitable image.
Licensing her famous poses and pout have made more than $30 million in fees for two of the litigants. They are Anna Strasberg, the wife of Ms. Monroe's former acting coach, and her Indiana-based business partner, a professional peddler of dead peoples' images. Seeking to share in the Monroe spoils are the families of four photographers who snapped famous Monroe pictures, but who have earned far less in licensing fees.
The central issue in four Monroe-related lawsuits, now pending in Indiana, New York and California is seemingly simple: At the time of her death, was the actress a Californian, or a New Yorker? The answer is worth millions.
As the majority owner of Ms. Monroe's rights of publicity -- which permit the licensing of celebrity images for commercial purposes -- Ms. Strasberg insists the star was a Californian. The photographers, who own copyrighted images of Ms. Monroe, have asked the courts to declare that she was a New Yorker. If the photographers prevail, they could potentially wipe out much of Ms. Strasberg's Monroe business.
. . .
Ms. Monroe joined a parade of dead celebrities being marketed aggressively. In 2004, Robert F.X. Sillerman paid Lisa Marie Presley $100 million for an 85% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc., which licenses Mr. Presley's image and music. Jeffrey Lotman, chief executive of the Los Angeles licensing firm Global Icons, says that after Mr. Presley, Ms. Monroe and James Dean are the most valuable dead-celebrity brands.
40 years? A wonder how long before an icon passes into the public domain (if ever, under our current copyright laws)? And who gets the royalties from all those Che Guevara tee-shirts?
Posted by Ken Jarboe at April 13, 2006 5:16 PM
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