Marilyn's tchotchke biz loses case

A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected claims that Marilyn Monroe's "right of publicity" had been violated when photos of the legendary sex symbol were sold without consent of a company founded by Monroe's heirs that licenses Marilyn t-shirts, key chains and photos. "Ms. Monroe could not devise by will a property right she did not own at the time of her death in 1962," wrote Southern District of New York Judge Colleen McMahon. The suit centers on whether the estate of photographer Sam Shaw had the right to sell images of Monroe that were taken by Shaw - without shelling out a licensing fee. And Shaw took some famous images, including the one of her standing over a subway grate for "The Seven Year Itch." As you can imagine, there's a fair amount of money at stake. MM LLC and its licensing company, CMG Worldwide, are considering an appeal. From NY Law Journal:

"At the time of her death in 1962 Ms. Monroe did not have any postmortem right of publicity under the law of any relevant state," Judge McMahon wrote. "As a result, any publicity rights she enjoyed during her lifetime were extinguished at her death by operation of law." The judge did not accept the claim that language of Monroe's will, which cited all property "to which [she] shall be in any way entitled," could apply to publicity rights created 22 years later. "In the absence of any other evidence concerning Ms. Monroe's intent, this boilerplate language is much too slender a reed on which to hang a devise of postmortem publicity rights that did not come into being until 22 years after her death," the judge wrote.