Saturday, October 11, 2014

There seems to always be something new to argue about in the field of entertainment law. I guess that is why they call it entertainment anyway. The latest in creepy entertainment is the fact that dead celebrities seem to be coming back to life more and more. Is it because we can’t find enough new celebrities or the fact that we have enough good film on these people that we might as well try to make more money from their images and have them readily available to a new generation of possible fans? Yeah, like always it is all about making more money.
Now we are seeing just about anyone who was ever on film on stage in hologram form. You need a lot of training to know the skill of creating a 3D image without the use of lenses since a photography lens was used to originally create the image. We see performers singing duets with these ghostly images from the past. Now Marilyn Monroe’s estate that earns about $30 Million dollars a year is looking on how to make more money from her popularity once she will be shown as a hologram. Now one company is already in court looking  for the right to create a virtual  version of the original blond beauty.

Yes, she is singing “I want to be loved by you” again in her sexy soft voice back to life from the movie Some like It Hot. The hologram is close enough to the real Marilyn that the estate of the dead woman is all upset and wants to make new money  and has ordered the hologram owners to cease  and desist. Now virtual Marilyn is suing the estate. Marilyn vs. Marilyn in in the courts with millions of dollars at stake.  Marilyn Monroe is currently the third highest paid dead celebrity. She is only behind Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.
Elvis recently appeared on the show American Idol singing a duet with Celine Dion. Tupac rapped with Snoop Dog at Coachella in 2012 and then there was Michael Jackson not quite in the flesh at the Billboard Music Awards moon walking.  All were considered new performances and all generated new income.  One image is real and the other can be an old 19Th Century magic trick for all we care. The fact is that we can easily mesh the both into a real conversation with digital technology available now.  Just imagine when they put all this into commercial use.  We can have new home movies with my wife making out with Elvis and I can have my very own sex tape with Pamela Anderson . sigh ugh This a back to the future I am not sure I am ready for; or am I?


In terms of the court case, for famous people who died before the digital age, who can decide weather they should rest in peace? Virtual Marilyn argues that the Monroe estate actually does not own her image. They even found a quote  of hers that said, “I belong to the public, I belong to the world. I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” Nothing better than a hot girl saying something like that!

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