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Indy firm loses Marilyn Monroe rights case Wed. March 19 - 2008

Michael W. Hoskins -  mhoskins@ibj.com

Special to IBJ

CMG Worldwide Inc. suffered a significant legal setback Monday when a federal judge ruled that Fishers-based CMG and a company it represents, Marilyn Monroe LLC, do not own Marilyn Monroe's publicity rights. The California ruling could be a massive blow to CMG. Monroe's likeness on everything from TV commercials to T-shirts generated about $30 million in sales between 1994 and 2006; about a fourth of the revenue landed at CMG. CEO Mark Roesler was out of town and couldn't be immediately reached today for comment. However, an Indianapolis attorney who formerly represented CMG and has handled Monroe litigation says the ruling is disappointing from iconic and legal standpoints. In effect, the ruling tossed ownership rights to the public, said Jonathan Polak, who leads the intellectual property group at Sommer Barnard. "Marilyn Monroe is one of the heavyweight celebrities in the licensing business and she has generated significant licensing revenues, but the court has essentially unleashed the right of publicity for Marilyn to the public domain," Polak said. "This is a sad day for those of us practicing in this area." The case started in Indiana but was transferred to and consolidated in California District Court in 2005. Marilyn Monroe LLC is owned by Anna Strasberg, the wife of Monroe's former acting coach. Strasberg argued that publicity rights passed to her late husband after Monroe's death. CMG and Marilyn Monroe LLC claimed that photographers Milton H. Greene and Tom Kelley had infringed their rights. Green and Kelley's photos helped catapult Monroe into stardom and include a nude shot of her on a red velvet cloth published in Playboy magazine's inaugural issue in 1953.

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COMMENTS:      ( Posts 1 - 6 ) out of 6Comments available as RSS Feed Nicole Sandringham , AU  Posted on Sun, Oct 25 2009 # 1    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply     Why should Anna get a thing? Why should Anna strasberg get a thing anyway? She never knew Marilyn for a start, and her will stated that the items were to be passed on, not stored. So at the end of the day, all this money hungry woman has done is exploit and make millions of a woman she never knew. Disgusting!!! Jennifer J. Dickinson, VP, MMPLLC Sparta , NJ - US  Posted on Tue, Mar 25 2008 # 2    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply     Mark Roesler - Reality Check Recommended! Mark Roesler claims on his website that Marilyn Monroe's Right of Publicity is secure in the states of Washington and Indiana - two states she probably never even set foot in. How can this be possible if the Right of Publicity to Marilyn Monroe is not recognized in the state that she was domiciled in (NY) and that she died in (CA)? Roesler is crossing unconstitutional borders by trying to change the laws that affect interstate commerce and his only motivation is to hang onto a client whose right of publicity was literally hijacked by vultures and these are last ditch-efforts to try to do so. My highest respect to Hon. Margaret M. Morrow for her fair ruling and not being fooled by the manipulative Mark A. Roesler and Anna Strasberg. Now lawmakers need realize that anything with CMG involved is not for general interest but to line their own pockets. Mark Roesler needs to give up and realize that neither he nor Strasberg were ever entitled to Marilyn Monroe's Right of Publicity to begin with. Pauline Auckland , NZ  Posted on Mon, Mar 24 2008 # 3    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply     The right outcome CMG has always said it is better to have someone controlling the use of Marilyn's image, to prevent tasteless use of her image. But in my opinion their use of her image has been as tasteless as possible, I doubt there is anything less tasteful possible than what they have already done. Additionally they have exerted control (i.e. taken money from) the photographers and their family/children who had every right to carry on reproducing photographs of Marilyn - photos she approved of during her lifetime. For example, Milton Greene's son Joshua, should not have to pay CMG to publish his own father's photographs - he inherited the rights to his father's art. I think CMG should butt out permanently from this area, I am glad this has backfired, whilst trying to squirm their way into "having their cake and eating it too", they have unwittingly lost "the golden goose". Mark Bellinghaus, CEO, MARILYN MONROE PRODUCTIONS Los Angeles , CA - US  Posted on Sat, Mar 22 2008 # 4    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply     The downfall of Anna Strasberg & Mark Roesler - Real Justice Has Finally Been Served! "CEO Mark Roesler was out of town and couldn't be immediately reached today for comment." Are you kidding me? Or who is he trying to be kidding? He got a free iphone when he sold Marilyn Monroe's image to mac. He could be reachable. You want his cell number? Mark Roesler & his partner in exhibition crimes (as they both were named as plaintiffs in the Queen Mary Marilyn Monroe fraud lawsuit, filed May 26, 2006 in Los Angeles), they were always 'out of town' and 'not to reach for comments,' right when Los Angeles Independent reporter Mary Gurton was trying to reach them both. They thought they knew how to fool us all--including the entire media. They did succeed in the beginning but then it was too obvious, too painful even for themselves. They went into a long dive. Mark Roesler's website deteriorated (thank God he stopped his pathetic and unprofessional webcast interviews with one accident happening after the other). It was almost a sad comedy to watch him trying to 'speak.' This is the best spring break and Easter anybody could have wished for. I applaud the photographers who have been fighting so bravely for so many years against the dictatorship of Anna Strasberg, 70, & Mark Roesler, 52, over Marilyn Monroe, the estates of her photographers, her fans, collectors and admirers. The reign for 26 long horrible years (by Anna Strasberg) and 11 ugly and scandal ridden years by Mark A. Roesler, who took over what licensing lawyer Roger B. Richman, 67, had started, this 'terror of lawsuit threats' has finally come to an end. They made many millions and this ruling will certainly prevent them from continuing to do so in the future. The estate of Marilyn Monroe is literally history now and we have been fighting for this goal for 2 1/2 years. We won. All of us who attacked Anna Strasberg & Mark Roesler--especially my dear friends and business partners, the author of The Ultimate Marilyn, and plaintiff in the class action lawsuit (mentioned earlier), Mr. Ernest W. Cunn Joe Carmody, licensing expert Los Angeles , CA - US  Posted on Fri, Mar 21 2008 # 5    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply     Marilyn Monroe is dead and so is her right of publicity In 1967, Lee Strasberg met Anna, a Venezuelan-born actress in her 20s who tried out to be admitted to his school. She failed the tryout but in 1968 became his third wife. Some 35 years difference in ages. Starsberg and CMG (her agent) fraudulently asserted publicity rights, Anna takes in some 8 million a year from licensing. Marilyn Monroe is dead and so is her right of publicity. Hopefully, they will have to account for the tens of millions they have fraudulently extorted from licensees and businesses. Steven Strickhom, esq. Los Angeles , CA - US  Posted on Fri, Mar 21 2008 # 6    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply     publicity rights for Marilyn Monroe From what I know about the case, CMG initiated these lawsuits against the photographers. MMLLC and CMG have always engaged in aggressive threats of lawsuits and contentious activities. Even their own licensees fear and hate them. Through these activities, CMG forced others using the name, likeness or voice of Marilyn Monroe to pay tens of millions of dollars in royalties to CMG and Marilyn Monroe LLC. CMG's protracted legal trainwreck has ended.

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