European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 17, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Who has the rights to the dead this Man does Mike Genalo staff writer new York a even though he represents some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment Mark Roesler does no tas a Rule get much grief from temperamental clients. Roesler president of Curtis management group is one of a handful of agents who specialize in marketing and licensing deceased celebrities. By most accounts he has the largest such client roster. Advertisers and agencies routinely used to use photos film footage or even look alikes of deceased stars to give the impression that the celebrity had endorsed their product. The problem was that they often did no to pay royalties or fees to the deceased s  Norman Rockwell to James Dean Mark Roesler represents the Rich famous and deceased. Well known names As Judy Garland John Belu Shi Jesse Owens Abbott amp costello and Johnny Weismuller arguably the most famous of the tar Zans. Advertisers who use the dead Are trying to project diverse images when they choose the personality to endorse their product Roesler says. James Dean for example was chosen to project the image that it s Cool to Wear Jack Purcell sneakers. Babe Ruth legendary for his batting record was considered a perfect image to illustrate Power and appeared in Many ads for Zenith Power Supply. And Many companies that chose John Wayne have relied on his image As a honest forthright All american Folk hero. In addition to the powerful image conveyed by Many former greats manufacturers also Benefit by not having to worry about conflicts or Adverse publicity that May arise with living endorsers Roesler says. A advertisers like to use these celebrities Roesler said. Quot they re appealing and respected and the ads compliment the Impact the person had on the Public in their  but he said Quot Protection of the legends Good name is As important As the  Roesler who has been with Curtis since 1981, got started representing estates when Curtis the estates of Judy Garland left and John Belushi Are among the Curtis Agency a clients. A amp a photographers publishing the Parent company of the management group sought Protection for the works of the artist Norman Rockwell. Curtis owned the rights to the saturday evening Post archives and had Roesler handle the licensing and trademark registration of Rockwell s work. From there it was on to representing the estates of Elvis Presley and James Dean. Word of Mouth and Roesler s reputation in the Field led to his being sought by heirs of other personalities. T Curtis management group now represents the heirs of approximately 70 deceased personalities Roesler said. Among its clients Are the heirs of such i \ As a licensing agent Curtis gets a 40-50 percent Royalty fee from each estate. Although Roesler declined to disclose the firm s Revenue from the business he says there is a great Deal of Money involved. For example Quot babe Ruth s daughters were Lucky to get $50 or $60 a year from licensing before Curtis started licensing the Ruth name Quot he said. Quot now it s Well into six figures a  James Dean who earned $10,000 for his role in Quot East of Eden Quot and was paid possibly As much As $100,000 for Quot giant Quot has become a cult figure since his death in 1955. Quot he is much bigger than babe Ruth Quot in terms of licensing earnings Roesler says. In addition to licensing Roesler also handles the litigation that families become embroiled in. There Are presently 20 lawsuits pending in the courts he said. At the urging of the families of John Wayne and Groucho Marx California was the first state to pass a Law granting trademark Protection to the deceased. The Law is meant to protect those rights for up to 50 years after the Star s death. Thirteen states now have such Laws and the remainder generally recognize trademark restrictions established by those Laws. A 1979 a mud proud 19msunday, june 17, 1990 to plus c Page 3