Steve McQueen heirs sue clothing maker

[Feraud]

I thought this might interest some of our members who are into McQueen or Belstaff.

Wed Mar 26, 7:31 AM ET


Heirs of the late actor Steve McQueen have gone to court to stop an apparel manufacturer from using the King of Cool's name and likeness to promote its products without their consent.

Chadwick McQueen and The Terry McQueen Testamentary Trust say in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that McQueen's name and likeness have been ripped off by Belstaff USA Corp. They've asked the court to stop the company from marketing jackets, coats, sweaters, T-shirts, pants and shoes under the name of the actor, who starred in classics such as "Bullitt" and "The Great Escape" and died in 1980.

The lawsuit said the rights to merchandise carrying McQueen's name belong to his two children, Chad and Terry. The lawsuit said Terry McQueen died in 1998, leaving her rights and assets to her daughter, Molly Flattery, through the trust.

The lawsuit seeks a judicial order to stop Belstaff and related companies from manufacturing or selling items that carry the actor's name or messages related to him. It also seeks unspecified damages.

A telephone message left at Belstaff's Manhattan office was not immediately returned Tuesday. Belstaff is based in Italy.

McQueen's film credits also include "The Magnificent Seven," "The Cincinnati Kid" and the critically acclaimed "Papillon," which costarred Dustin Hoffman.

Marketing with celebrities is a tried and true method to guarantee sales.
A company should have the celebrity or family approval.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

i wonder how long they thought they could get away with it...duhhhh...stupid people...i have almost all of mcqueens movies, bunch of collectibles and posters everywhere in my house...lol

 

[reetpleat]

i wonder how long they thought they could get away with it...duhhhh...stupid people...i have almost all of mcqueens movies, bunch of collectibles and posters everywhere in my house...lol

In this day and age, it seems foolish to think you could get away with it. Still, I have my reservations over the whole ownership of celebrity thing. Heirs, or even non heirs now try to enforce rights to anything related to the celebrity. I think a person should own their name and image, but to what extent does that carry over to heirs? the legals system will decide I guess.

 

[Feraud]

In this day and age, it seems foolish to think you could get away with it. Still, I have my reservations over the whole ownership of celebrity thing. Heirs, or even non heirs now try to enforce rights to anything related to the celebrity. I think a person should own their name and image, but to what extent does that carry over to heirs? the legals system will decide I guess.

While McQueen's image may or may not belong to the family there is no question that is absolutely does not belong to any company.

 

[Dagwood]

I think a person should own their name and image, but to what extent does that carry over to heirs? the legals system will decide I guess.

In California, the state legislature around 1984-1985 determined that a celebrity has a "property right" regarding his/her image. As with any property right, this right can be passed on to whomever the celebrity wishes.

You may have heard that last year, regarding the Marilyn Monroe estate, California amended the law so that celebrities who died before 1985 (and were residents of California) could also have this right. Here is an NPR story.

I know that other states, like New York, were attempting to pass similar legislation which would also create a similar "property right."

 

[reetpleat]

In California, the state legislature around 1984-1985 determined that a celebrity has a "property right" regarding his/her image. As with any property right, this right can be passed on to whomever the celebrity wishes.

You may have heard that last year, regarding the Marilyn Monroe estate, California amended the law so that celebrities who died before 1985 (and were residents of California) could also have this right. Here is an NPR story.

I know that other states, like New York, were attempting to pass similar legislation which would also create a similar "property right."

I have been aware of the growing body of law. My objection is not as to weather it is legal, but is it right. One could argue that celebrity is party a public creation. I guess therre is a lot of money in getting such laws passed and no unified body to lobby against it. ironic that in this day and age, our person privacy is less and less, while clebrity rights to their images is more and more.

 

[Cobden]

Excuse me for my ignorance of technicalities of the US legal system, but is not an image of a celebrity the copyright of the photographer etc.? Or are copyright and property rights seperate in US law? In which case, if I were to wish to produce a T shirt of, I don't know, Syd Little (which I can assure you, I don't), would I need to get permission of the photographer, Mr Little, or both?

 

[Dagwood]

^^ Depends on the contract between the celebrity and the photographer. By way of example, if you have ever been on a cruise, there is generally a legal waiver giving the cruise line the right to use your image without your permission.

 

[Twitch]

Yep, if they wanna use the name they gotta pay!

 

[Hondo]

Yeah its a one time thing like that, that isn't a problem but when your world widely known like McQueen, you got to pay, its only fair else the whole marketing thing would be Crawling with leaches trying to make a fast buck.
Pay up!!!

^^ Depends on the contract between the celebrity and the photographer. By way of example, if you have ever been on a cruise, there is generally a legal waiver giving the cruise line the right to use your image without your permission.

 

[Flitcraft]

Belstaff flogged that Steve McQueen connection pretty hard. Seems they would have approched the estate long before they started the advertising campaign.
There is precedent- Ford has used McQueen's image to sell the "Bullitt" Mustang and I've seen ads for a video game version of "The Great Escape" using McQueen's image. In both of this instances, the estate was involved at an early stage.
Belstaff is kind of weird about their marketing plans anyway. I would have thought they would have come out with a "special Edition" "I Am Legend" jacket. Guess not...

 

["Doc" Devereux]

It's unreasonable for any company to expect to use the image or identity of an individual, living or dead, for their own purposes without permission.

A general question: how would members here feel about having their reputation (of whatever stripe) used to promote low-rise jeans, ballcaps and/or neon-coloured training shoes?

 

[rebelgtp]

i wonder how long they thought they could get away with it...duhhhh...stupid people...i have almost all of mcqueens movies, bunch of collectibles and posters everywhere in my house...lol

Ah yes but do you have a copy of his movie "LeMans"? One of my all time favorites because I am a HUGE fan of vintage race cars and seeing so many Porsche 917's in one place just makes me drool.

 

[scotrace]

The new catalog I have from Ben Silver is showing their (quite fatly priced) Barracuda jacket, with an image of McQueen on the page. I bet there's a scramble in their offices today. "Did we get permission???"

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Ah yes but do you have a copy of his movie "LeMans"? One of my all time favorites because I am a HUGE fan of vintage race cars and seeing so many Porsche 917's in one place just makes me drool.

i sure do...i'm missing only a couple obscure ones, like 'enemy of the people' which was never released in the US and a couple earlier uncredited films...

the 'great escape video game' is funny because they used sound bites from the movie for his dialogue in the cut scenes...its not a very good game so i used a cheat to get to the level select so i can play the end on the motorcycle...and he gets away...

 

[Retro Rob]

Depending on the project usually the studio has permission to use images for promotional purposes. When I did my book of photographs from Gods and Generals I had permission from Warner Brothers, not the individual actors. I doubt the clothing makers got rights from the studio.

 

[Foofoogal]

McQueen's personality and trademark rights are managed by Corbis Corporation, the well-known media company owned by Bill Gates.

One good looking man for sure. Not handsome really but all in how you carry yourself kind of guy.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

just watched Towering Inferno today..the film that brought him back lol...man did he have the coolest blue eyes...back anybody down...