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When was the last time you heard good news from Disney? I can’t remember either. They are in more trouble, this time with the dead, from beyond the grave.
It’s to do with Peter Cushing’s likeness used in Rogue One. I know I made a joke about being from beyond the grave, but I think Cushing would have liked it. A lawsuit has been filed against Disney by Kevin Francis, a producer and friend of Cushing. Francis claims that Cushing:
…agreed not to grant permission for anyone to reproduce his appearance through special effects without his authorization.
Francis went on to say he allegedly:
…signed the agreement not to allow his image to be used without Francis’s permission in 1993 while preparing to make a television film called A Heritage of Horror, which was not completed.
It’s not just Disney, but also Lucasfilm and Lunak Heavy Industries, which produced Rogue One. It also mentions Cushing’s agency and the estate’s, now-dead, executors. The suit alleges that the studio for ‘unjust enrichment’ from Cushing’s digital recreation in the movie.
Disney have already tried to have the case dismissed in London last year, but that was rejected. The judge in the case, Tom Mitcheson, upheld the ruling but admitted that he was:
…far from persuaded that Francis would win the case. I am also not persuaded that the case is unarguable to the standard required to give summary judgment or to strike it out. In an area of developing law it is very difficult to decide where the boundaries might lie in the absence of a full factual enquiry.
It turns out that Disney paid about $28,000 to Cushing’s estate for the use of his likeness. They also claimed that:
…did not believe permission was required to recreate Cushing because of the terms of his contract in the original film and the nature of the special effects.
It’s going to be an interesting case. Chances are Disney will win it, they have money to throw away at the moment, see The Acolyte as an example. What is interesting is how it will play out for using other people’s likenesses in future movies.
I really wish they would stop using my likeness in every movie with Chris Evans in it.
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