Christopher Tolkien at it again....

[blantyr]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

I wonder if other famous dead people can be trademarked. I would imagine if you chose the right corpse, it could be very profitable. Like Elvis, or Marilyn Monroe. Maybe even Shakespeare.

Just as an illustration that the above is done, the Associated Press reports Lisa Marie Presley selling Elvis estate... for about $100,000,000.

The heirs of a famous person do get control of the "name and image" to some extent. There is a new profession of being an agent for dead people, helping the heirs or estate profit off the heritage of the deceased. I don't know all the details, and it likely changes from country to country, but for some dead people a lot of money is involved.