Is creating a hologram of a dead celebrity and using it for profit illegal?

Question

For example, I just saw the video of Tupac's hologram at Coachella (it's amazing you should check it out). Anyhow, I assume Dr Dre got permission from Tupac's estate to use his image or whatever. But supposing I created a company that made holograms of like Tupac, John Lennon, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley and then did a worldwide tour using the hologram- is that legal? I can't see how it would be, but i'm not sure what laws it actually violates apart from it being just wrong

Answer 1

It could be illegal if you did it without obtaining the necessary rights.

There are actually several different legal issues involved. First is the right of publicity, which protects the commercial use of a person's name, image, likeness, and sometimes voice. In some U.S. states these rights continue after the celebrity dies and can belong to the celebrity's estate or other successors. California, for example, provides post-mortem publicity rights for certain deceased personalities for 70 years after death.

Second, a concert would raise copyright issues. Even if you had permission to reproduce the celebrity's appearance, you would still need the appropriate rights or licenses for the songs, sound recordings, photographs, video footage, choreography, or other copyrighted material used in the performance.

Therefore, creating a commercial "Michael Jackson hologram tour," for example, would not generally allow you to simply recreate Jackson, perform his music, sell tickets, and keep the proceeds without considering the rights held by his estate and the relevant copyright owners.

There are exceptions and complications—for example, news reporting, commentary, parody, historical works, and some other expressive uses can receive legal protection. Laws also differ considerably between jurisdictions.

The Tupac example illustrates the point well. Reports concerning the 2012 Coachella performance indicate that permission for the commercial use of Tupac's likeness was obtained from his estate.

So the technology itself is not illegal. The problem is commercially exploiting a deceased celebrity's protected likeness and copyrighted material without obtaining the necessary permissions and licenses.