Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Should “Bankable Personas” Survive as Estate Assets?

Bill Cosby reportedly nudged Massachusetts to consider a statute that preserves a deceased celebrity's identity as an estate asset for 70 years. Already passed by the Massachusetts Senate, the legislation will become law if approved by the House. Massachusetts then would  become the 16th state to establish the right of publicity as an inheritable asset.

Leon Neyfakh surveys the pros and cons of preserving a celebrity's identity in this Boston Globe article.
Mad Men era note: Before Bill Cosby became a familiar father figure on sitcoms, he gained television stardom on I Spy. In that show Robert Culp and Cosby played CIA types, traipsing around the world under cover as a tennis player and his trainer/manager. A few NBC affiliates were so shocked by a black leading man they refused to run the show. For at least the first two of its three seasons on NBC – a big-deal network back then – I Spy was pretty cool.

3 comments:

Jim Gust said...

On my recent trip to visit my parents in Minneapolis, I arranged for the installation of wireless internet in their home. They don't have a computer, but they just got a "smart" TV, and the remote has a Netflix button on it. So I also got them an account.

First thing my Dad chose to watch was Columbo, from 1971. The guest villain was Robert Culp, who was quite good. Great show.

JLM said...

Yup, we watched that Columbo episode on Netflix not long ago. The series has aged quite well.

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