Families of Deceased Celebrities Fight `Postmortem Identity Theft'

Jun 11, 10:50 PM

Current Headlines: NEW YORK _ Even in death, some celebrities keep on performing.

And now the families of New York movie stars, sports figures and musicians want Albany to stop quick-buck artists from cashing in on their fame _ a ripoff that advocates have branded "postmortem identity theft."

The families have some high-wattage star support from Al Pacino and Yoko Ono, who have written legislators asking them to protect dead celebrities' images.

Under proposed legislation, makers of unauthorized T-shirts or novelties using images, voice recordings or even the name of dead celebrities could be hit with a misdemeanor charge. The shield would extend to 70 years after a celebrity's death.

"New Yorkers are left at a significant disadvantage in managing the ongoing legacy of our friends, loved ones and colleagues," Yoko Ono, the widow of slain Beatle John Lennon, wrote in a letter backing the measure.

The issue caught fire last month when a federal court ruled that New York law offered no protection to the estate of Marilyn Monroe after it sued a novelty company for selling unauthorized T-shirts with her image.

That's how Pacino, the star of "Scarface" and "Serpico," got involved. He is a friend of David Strasberg, son of the late actor Lee Strasberg, who was the executor of Monroe's estate.

"I feel like one's likeness and image should be protected in some way and not abused or denigrated for the sake of profit," Pacino wrote.

Janie Hendrix, sister of late guitar wizard Jimi Hendrix, told the New York Daily News she has seen vendors hawking T-shirts and other items with the image of the "Purple Haze" musician's image on New York's streets.

"When you create the image you have and make it famous, and it becomes part of your legacy, why can't it be part of your family's?" she asked. "Because he was a New York resident when he died at the age of 27, his rights died when he died."

Similar support came from Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, the widow of tennis great Arthur Ashe, and relatives of baseball legends Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle, among others.

New York and Wisconsin are the only states in the nation where there are legal gaps allowing identity predators to make money off the images and names of deceased celebrities without any recourse by their estates.

"We need to protect the dignity and wishes of those who have given us their creative spirit during their lifetime," said Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Helene Weinstein, a Brooklyn Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill with Sen. Marty Golden, a Brooklyn Republican.

Advocates of the legislation said it would not curtail any free speech rights because it only extends protections to the dead that live celebrities already have.

"Let me emphatically state that this statute is meant to in no way affect the inherent and explicit rights of others to make unauthorized biographies, art pieces and myriad other works protected by the First Amendment," Ashe's widow wrote.

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