Marilyn Keeps Smiling for the Camera
Marilyn Monroe may be long dead, but her life in pictures will continue.
A New York federal judge ruled Wednesday that the actress' right of publicity expired when she did in 1962, clearing the way for the family of photographer Sam Shaw to continue selling and licensing images of the blonde bombshell, including the iconic shot of her standing over a subway grill.
Monroe's estate filed a lawsuit against the Shaw Archives and Bradford Licensing Inc. in 2005, alleging the star's right of publicity was being violated by the use of her name, image and likeness without consent from her heirs.
The difference of opinion began over a T-shirt that was being sold at Target, featuring an image of Monroe taken by Shaw.
The Monroe estate brought its action in Indiana, hoping to take advantage of the state's broad 1994 Right of Publicity Act, which recognizes a postmortem right of publicity.
However, the case was eventually transferred to New York, where U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon found Wednesday that Monroe had no postmortem rights to publicity in any of the states relevant to the case at the time of her death.
New York only recognizes the publicity rights of living individuals, while California began recognizing descendible publicity rights in 1984.
Furthermore, while conceding that there was some dispute over whether Monroe was a resident of California or New York at the time she died, the judge said there was "absolutely no doubt that she was not domiciled in Indiana."
A lawyer for the Monroe estate said his clients were considering an appeal.
In related news, it was reported last month that Nicole Kidman would be producing and potentially starring in a remake of Monroe's classic film How to Marry a Millionaire for 20th Century Fox.
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