Robin Williams has been gone for close to nine months now, but the loss still seems fresh. His family descending into court to debate his personal property has a hand in that, but it’s also has a lot to do with the monumental legacy he left behind. A legacy that is protected for years to come according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Williams left the rights to his name, likeness, signature, and photograph to a charity called the Windfall Foundation. It was created by Williams legal representatives before his death and pretty much covers all of the intangible elements of Williams’ career according to THR:
There are two important facets of this provision.
First, the Trust restricts exploitation of Robin Williams’ right of publicity for 25 years after his death. That means, there won’t be any authorized advertisements featuring Williams until at least August 11, 2039. The provision also interferes with someone immediately doing, say, a hologram of a Robin Williams standup routine or digitally inserting him into a new film.
“It’s interesting that Williams restricted use for 25 years,” says Laura Zwicker, an attorney at Greenberg Glusker who counsels high net worth individuals on estate and tax planning. “I haven’t seen that before. I’ve seen restrictions on the types of uses — no Coke commercials for example — but not like this. It could be a privacy issue.”
The report cites the emerging tech that’s out there reviving long dead celebrities for holographic appearances or movie cameos. THR notes that it is a groundbreaking form of protection that also includes a backup in case the Windfall Foundation fails to clear its status as a charity in the eyes of the IRS. In that case, Williams likeness could be distributed to one or more charitable organizations that do qualify.
This apparently exists for good reason according to THR:
According to insiders, this appears to be a direct reaction to a dispute happening at the moment between the estate of Michael Jackson and the IRS over how to value the late singer’s publicity rights for estate tax purposes. The federal government claims the King of Pop’s estate owes more than $500 million in taxes from his publicity rights and must also pay almost $200 million more in penalties. The dispute is currently being adjudicated in U.S. Tax Court.
It’s very interesting to see such a level of control being thrown out in relation to someone’s image. It’s also kinda scary to think that it had to happen and what could happen if it didn’t exist. It should provide some tax relief to Williams’ family as well, which is helpful. You can check out the full Trust documents over here if interested.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)