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Entertainment & Sports

Nov. 23, 1999

Dead Reckoning -- Commercial Value of Deceased Celebrities' Images

By John M. Genga Since 1971, California courts have recognized that a celebrity may exploit to the exclusion of others the value of his or her image by making certain commercial uses of the celebrity's name, likeness and other attributes of identity. California Civil Code Section 3344. After the California Supreme Court refused to extend such rights to the heirs of a dead celebrity in Lugosi v. Universal Pictures , 25 Cal.3

        By John M. Genga
        
        Since 1971, California courts have recognized that a celebrity may exploit to the exclusion of others the value of his or her image by making certain commercial uses of the celebrity's name, likeness and other attributes of identity. California Civil Code Section 3344. After the California Supreme Court refu...

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