The Art Newspaper: Dalí foundation sues California museum for use of artist’s name and image.
Brandon Butler tweets: "This lawsuit seems crazy—if a museum full of Dali art can’t use 'Dali,' what should it be called? 'Museum of the Melting Clocks Guy—You Know, with the Weird Mustache'?"
On the other hand:
"Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass partner Lawrence Siskind, who’s not involved in the case, said at first blush it sounds as if the foundation has a strong case. If the museum called itself 'The Museum of Surrealism' and exhibited Dali retrospectives, that probably wouldn’t break any laws. It could even create a website called DaliSucks.com and publish commentary and criticism about his artwork. But use of 'Dali' as part of the museum’s name might imply that Dali’s heirs or owners of the rights have authorized use the name, or endorsed the museum, Siskind said."
And:
"UC Hastings School of Law civil litigation professor David Levine said Piterman 'may well have a problem' by using Dalí’s name and image to promote the museum. It’s one thing, Levine said, to display a Dalí painting on a museum wall. It’s another thing to use Dalí’s image to promote it. To be safe, Levine said, Piterman needs a different strategy. 'If he advertises it as "Dmitry’s Museum Featuring Works of Salvador Dalí" without using Dalí’s likeness, that’s probably OK,' Levine said."
