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Battle over Bob Marley Merchandise Involves Significant 'Image' Issues

By Stan Soocher
March 29, 2010

High consumer interest in merchandise bearing indicia of deceased celebrity icons has spawned a constantly evolving litigation genre for determining the extent of rights of the icons' estates. The estate of reggae-music legend Bob Marley, who died in 1981, is among the most frequently litigated in the field. A federal lawsuit filed by the Bahamian-based Fifty-Six Hope Road, Marley's children's company, in Nevada has raised some important issues ' in part of first impression in the state ' as to how the registration provisions of the Nevada right-of-publicity apply and how far estate rights may extend in a celebrity's name trademark. Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Ltd. v. A.V.E.L.A. Inc., 2:08-CV-00105-PMP-GWF.

Image As Trademark

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