A law granting extended image rights to dead celebrities in the US has been signed into law by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reports PDN.
The bill intended to give Marilyn Monroe’s estate a retrospective right to demand payment for the use of her image effectively allows the guardians of anyone who died within the last 70 years to benefit from the commercial exploitation of photographs and associated media.
Previously, the law granted the right of publicity only to celebrities who died after December 31, 1984.
PDN says that it was no surprise that the bill was approved, when it’s signatory Schwarzenegger – a movie star himself stood to indirectly benefit from the ruling.