Who Owns The Rights to a Deceased Actor's Image?

Written By Darin M. Klemchuk

In the U.S., Fast and Furious 7 earned a record $147 million during its opening weekend, and a touching farewell tribute to the franchise’s late star Paul Walker has fans scrambling for tissues. Undoubtedly, Walker’s untimely 2013 death was heartbreaking for his fans and loved ones, but it also required the film’s director James Wan to film Walker’s remaining scenes using footage from earlier films, Walker’s two brothers as body doubles and CGI (computer generated imagery) to artificially recreate the actor.  But who owns the rights to the CGI and a deceased actor's likeness?

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Read more about Copyright Litigation.

In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas.  He also co-founded Project K, a charity devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time.  Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.

 

Darin M. Klemchuk

In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. He also co-founded Project K, a charity devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.


You can follow Darin on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. 

 

http://www.klemchuk.com
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