An art law story in, of all places, the sports pages of the New York Daily News: Wayne Coffey looks at New York's proposed "dead celebrities bill," focusing on the case of tennis legend Arthur Ashe. He reports that the legislation "is expected to be reintroduced in January," and adds:
"The Authors Guild, the nation’s largest society of published authors, among other arts organizations, has lobbied hard against the bill, viewing it as a massive assault on the First Amendment. Other detractors insist it is nothing but a greed-driven, legal gambit by Marilyn Monroe LLC, a company that successfully got a dead-celebrities bill passed in California last year, and is now turning its attention to New York, aiming to elbow photographers who own Monroe photos out of their way."
For another vote for the greed-driven-gambit-by-a-single-company theory, see here.
