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According to MediaBistro, the Authors Guild has denounced a "Dead Celebs" bill brought up in New York State. This bill would allow allow descendants of dead celebrities (if they died after 1938) the right to block the use of images of that person. This is also covered (in more depth) in Publisher's Weekly.
At first glance, that sounds like a good idea. Sure, let's protect the family from seeing their dead relative exploied by other people, ending up on cereal boxes or T-shirts or whatever. On the other hand, how far do these rights go? Experts argue that this law could be disastrous for publishers, not to mention historians, biographers, and even novelists (as literary works are not exempted).
Also, I've seen too many cases where the estate wields that power a little too strongly. Some people have accused the estate of pianist Glenn Gould of being too eager to control the use of Glenn Gould's images. For example, they sued a photographer who tried to put out a book of photographs of the young Glenn Gould, although he owned the rights to the photos, and reportedly, they have put hurdles in front of biographers who want to write about GG. Blech.
At first glance, that sounds like a good idea. Sure, let's protect the family from seeing their dead relative exploied by other people, ending up on cereal boxes or T-shirts or whatever. On the other hand, how far do these rights go? Experts argue that this law could be disastrous for publishers, not to mention historians, biographers, and even novelists (as literary works are not exempted).
Also, I've seen too many cases where the estate wields that power a little too strongly. Some people have accused the estate of pianist Glenn Gould of being too eager to control the use of Glenn Gould's images. For example, they sued a photographer who tried to put out a book of photographs of the young Glenn Gould, although he owned the rights to the photos, and reportedly, they have put hurdles in front of biographers who want to write about GG. Blech.