Paul Newman Continues to Control Image From the Grave
The late Paul Newman knew well before his death from cancer in September that the public may not quite be ready to let him go. So he took extra effort in crafting his will to make clear that he wanted his likeness controlled in the exacting way he protected his image during his lifetime.
In a will that largely reveals his wish to donate most of his wealth to charity, Newman urged his executors to prevent uses of his image that he “did not approve during my lifetime,” the New York Times <a href=”http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/paul-newman-philanthropist-does-hereby-leave/” title=City Room”>City Room blog reports.
Newman also specified that he didn’t want his image to be used to promote any foods of lesser quality than the ones currently being offered by Newman’s Own.
Greta E. Solomon, a partner at Cohen & Wolf in Westport, who handles many trusts and estates, told the Times, “It’s interesting what he did to protect his image and the future treatment of Paul Newman, the personality, the product, the commodity. He was very fussy about how he was portrayed and he wanted to make sure that the people who are in charge of these rights, whoever they are, treat him with the same dignity and respect that he expected during his lifetime.”
Newman also made clear that he didn’t want his image manipulated to create performances that never occurred, explicitly noting that his executors should prevent any “virtual performance or reanimation of any performance by me by the use of any technique, technology or medium now in existence or which may be known or created in the future anywhere in the universe.”
