licensing

This page considers post-mortem earnings by creators, in particular copyright royalties and revenue from licensing of personality rights.

It covers -

• introduction
• selected figures

     introduction

The discussion of personality rights (aka rights of publicity) elsewhere on this site noted that some jurisdictions enable post-mortem commercial exploitation of celebrities.

That exploitation might directly involve their heirs or agents, encompassing activity that ranges from tours of the celebrity's home (eg ticket sales for Presley's Graceland were estimated to be around US$5 million in 2000) to use of the person's name, voice or image in advertisements and even ringtones (examples include the estates of actors James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, civil rights figures Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, and director Orson Welles).

Given that copyright is not extinguished by death, the estates of writers, visual artists and performers may collect royalties from licensing of their intellectual property for some years after the person meets the grim reaper. (The rationale is discussed here, with a more detailed indication of the post-mortem duration of protection being found here.)

The extent of those royalties reflects factors such as -

• demand for the person's work, including uses such as toys and clothing
• whether the work is still protected (the heirs of Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare and Ludwig van Beethoven for example receive nothing - because the work of those figures is out of copyright) and
• whether the person or their estate negotiated an advantageous licence (eg rights to much work by best-seller Agatha Christie were sold for what now appears to be a low price; the film rights to The Lord Of The Rings were similarly transferred by Tolkien's family for less than their current value).

Personality rights may be supplemented through trademarks.

The following estimates are indicative only. They do not necessarily identify revenue received by the heirs of particular figures, particularly on an ongoing basis, or by corporate rights owners.

     selected figures

Elvis Presley

• US$35m (2000)
• US$40m (2002)
• US$49m (2007)

John Lennon

• US$20m (2000)
• US$19m (2002)

George Harrison

• US$17m (2001)
• US$16m (2002)

Jimi Hendrix

• US$10m (2000)

Bob Marley

• US$10m (2000)
• US$9m (2002)

Tupac Shakur

• US$7m (2001)
• US$12 (2002)

Johnny Cash

• US$7m (2004)

Frank Sinatra

• US$6m (2000)

Jerry Garcia

• US$5m (2000)

Jimi Hendrix

• US$7m (2002)

Curt Cobain

• US$50m (2006)

Ray Charles

• US$6m (2005)

Cole Porter

• US$6m (2002)

Rodgers and Hammerstein

• US$14m (2002)

Irving Berlin

• US$6m (2002)
• US$7m (2004)

Andy Warhol

• US$8m (2000)
• US$16m (2004)
• US$15m (2006)
• US$15m (2007)

Keith Haring

• US$4m (2000)

J.R.R. Tolkien

• US$7m (2000)
• US$22m (2002)

Robert Ludlum

• US$5m (2001)

Charles Schulz

• US$20m (2000)
• US$28m (2001)
• US$32m (2002)

Theodor 'Dr Seuss' Geisel

• US$17m (2000)
• US$19m (2001)
• US$16m (2002)

Albert Einstein

• US$20m (2005)
• US$18m (2006)
• US$20m (2007)

Marilyn Monroe

• US$4m (2000)
• US$7m (2001)
• US$8m (2002)
• US$7m (2007)

James Dean

• US$3m (2000)
• US$7m (2007)

Steve McQueen

• US$7m (2006)

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