AP PhotoWarner Bros. has already hooked Charlie Sheen up with a lot of money. It's not interested in hooking him up with free promotional materials, too.
The actor's former boss has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the brain trust behind the upcoming sitcom Anger Management—Sheen, FX network and distributor Debmar-Mercury—warning them to clear their promo materials of any photos of their star taken during his Two and a Half Men days, counsel for Warner Bros. confirms to E! News.
Well, not just any photo of him during that time would constitute a copyright infringement. But, per the studio, a photo they own of Sheen-as-Charlie-Harper posing on a motorcycle sure would!
"That you are using Warner's intellectual property for a commercial purpose—namely, to sell another show—is especially egregious," reads the strongly worded letter, obtained today by The Hollywood Reporter.
"Please immediately cease and desist from using these photographs or any other intellectual property belonging to Warner."
The rub came when the aforementioned motorcycle pic was used by Sheen and his current colleagues in a promotional packet touting Anger Management to buyers at last month's NATPE conference in Miami.
A rep for Sheen declined to comment, but THR quotes a source saying that the inclusion of an old photo of Sheen was not an intentional flouting of WB's copyright. The back-in-action star had just been too busy to get new publicity shots taken, the insider said.