Intellectual Property Law

Marilyn Monroe's Ghost Spotted Drafting Legislation In Albany, New York?

By Marty Schwimmer

Dead celebrities have lobbied NY state senators to introduce S06790, a bill to amend NY civil rights law to add a 70 year post-mortem right to prevent the use of the persona of a deceased personality. The ghost of Marilyn Monroe may have been among the lobbyists, because Section 12 of the bill seems to reverse the outcome of this case, that held that Marilyn Monroe's estate, and CMG, the estate's agent, couldn't enforce post-mortem rights in NY, if we ever got them, because you cannot devise what doesn't exist when the will is written.

Drawing of Marilyn Monroe ghost from here.

Full post as published by Trademark Blog on February 08, 2010 (boomark / email).