Celebrities and Posthumous Right of Publicity

According to Robert L. Moshman, Esq., Publicity Rights…and Wrongs, Est. Analyst (Dec. 2007), deceased celebrities may not always have posthumous rights of publicity:

In recent years, the descendants of four deceased photographers who had taken pictures of Marilyn Monroe have filed lawsuits to sell the images they inherited.***

On May 4, 2007, a Federal judge in New York ruled that Monroe’s rights of publicity ended at her death. The inherited photographs can be sold and used.***

Anna Nicole Smith was channeling Marilyn Monroe in many ways during life[.]***

Anna Nicole Smith may not achieve the icon status of Marilyn Monroe, but the merchandising of her posthumous publicity rights and invasion of her privacy reflects our culture’s voracious appetite for notoriety.