Representatives of Marilyn and Elvis Presley’s estates are suing a clothing company for a total of $353,500 in royalties and penalties, the New York Post reports. Central Mills, under its Freeze Apparel division, manufactured a range of tops featuring Marilyn’s image, such as the sweater shown above. TapouT LLC is a clothing division of Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the licensing arm of Marilyn’s estate. The two companies parted ways in December 2017.
Marilyn’s image is caught up in yet another legal dispute after Bert Stern’s widow sued his heirs (with whom he had worked for many years and was also romantically involved, according to the New York Post) for the right to his work, reports ABC News. And as Courthouse News Service reports, the heirs’ online sales of ‘bedazzled’ versions of Stern’s photos have also raised questions of authorship.
“A federal judge (Paul Engelmayer) in New York ruled Friday that Stern’s heirs are the rightful owners of the copyright interests in the ‘Last Sitting’ photographs.
The issue arose in a lawsuit Stern’s widow, Shannah Laumeister Stern, filed against Lisa and Lynette Lavender, twin sisters who were Stern’s assistants. The lawsuit claimed copyright infringement involving the reproduction and online sale of modified versions of certain Monroe images.
The Lavenders counter-sued, claiming Stern never owned the rights to the photographs.
Instead the sisters said the copyright belonged to Conde Nast, which hired Stern to photograph Monroe for Vogue. The Lavenders also claimed Stern authorized them to make, modify and sell copies of Monroe photographs following his death.
The judge found that Stern was, and his heirs are, the rightful owners of the copyright to the photographs. Whether the Lavender sisters infringed the judge said will have to be decided at trial.”
Marilyn’s estate is suing a Chinese merchandising company for $22 million over a botched licensing deal, The Blast reports.
“According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the estate says they reached a licensing agreement with Alba Longa Concepts in 2016. The deal called for the production and manufacturing of a ‘line of defined consumer products, including sunglasses, watches, luggage, bags, leather accessories scarves, footwear, apparel, dinnerware, drinkware, barware and flatware, in China.’
The estate says the deal was to run for 10 years and promised them a ‘Guaranteed Minimum Royalties’ payment of $1,000,000 the first year, $1.5 million the second, and $2 million for each year thereafter.
According to the suit, the estate says they had the right to terminate the deal if they breach the contract by not making a scheduled payment within 10 days of being served notice that a payment is overdue.
Here’s where the big money comes in: Marilyn Monroe’s estate says that the deal provides that in the event of any breach by Alba Longa Concepts, all ‘Guaranteed Minimum Royalties’ payments for the length of the contract would become immediately due.
Monroe’s estate says Alba Longa Concepts breached the agreement on December 1, 2016 when they failed to make a payment. The estate says over the next year, they notified Alba Longa Concepts several times about the breach, but nothing was done.
Now the estate is suing, claiming they are owed $18.5 million for the missed royalties payments, plus another $4.48 million they claim they are owed in missed payments related to licensing the trademark.
They are seeking the money they are owed, plus 1% interest per month.”
A collector of celebrity memorabilia is suing Vanity Fair for unauthorised use of this photo – showing Marilyn attending the Madison Square Garden concert where she famously sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to President Kennedy in 1962 – in their 2016 magazine special, Vanity Fair Icons: Marilyn Monroe, reports TMZ.
“In docs, obtained by TMZ, [Aric] Hendrix says he’s a collector of historical photographs and owns the photo AND the negative of Marilyn. He’s suing for damages in excess of $1 million. We’ve reached out to Vanity Fair, so far no word back.”
Burlesque queen Dixie Evans has died in Las Vegas, reports the Long Beach Press Telegram. She was 86.
Dubbed “The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque” by Harold Minsky, Evans has performed throughout the USA, including a successful run at the Place Pigalle in Miami Beach from 1953-1968. She also appeared in the Academy Award winning movie The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952.
Evans helped care for burlesque pioneer Jennie Lee, and moved out to the desert to run the operations of the Exotic World museum. In 1991, as a way to draw publicity to the museum, Dixie created the Miss Exotic World pageant, now known as the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend.
Dixie’s ‘casting couch’ skit
An interview with No-Fi Magazine, where she cites Marilyn as an influence, was posted at Everlasting Star in 2006.
“C: What is your favorite movie of all time?
D: Uh, favorite movie of all time, um… oh boy. I guess I gotta go with… I used to like Casablanca, but that’s been kind of worn out. I did like Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe. I’ve seen it a couple of times and it really was very clever. And another thing I’ve seen a couple times…Bus Stop.”
K: I know that one, but I haven’t seen it.
D: It’s adorable. Marilyn Monroe is beautiful in it and I love her, but I tell ya, Don Murray, that young cowboy, 20 years old…never seen a girl because he was raised on the farm. The dialogue is fabulous! He says, ‘Look at all the gals! There must be a hundred head of them!’ (Dixie laughs) The lines are so adorable. You gotta catch up with every line in that whole movie.
C: If you were a superhero, who would you be?
D: Madonna (we all laugh). Yeah, she is. I like any girl or fella that has started from the very bottom and worked her way up the hard way. I can see the tension there. People didn’t want to accept her in Hollywood. The same thing with Marilyn Monroe. And yet, there’s a girl that’ll never be forgotten. She deserves it. Marilyn Monroe is bigger than Hollywood or the studios.
C: Who has been the greatest influence on your life?
D: I would imagine Marilyn Monroe and maybe Jean Harlow before that. I idolized Jean Harlow. There was just something special about her.”
1957 skit, based on ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’
On the Loving Marilyn website, Shar Daws describes Dixie’s MM routine, and how she caught the eye of Joe DiMaggio:
“Yet another of Joe’s ‘Marilyn’s’ was Dixie Evans who had a reputation as ‘The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque’. Her act was a casting couch skit. Dixie was the actress; she took her clothes off and got the part!
During the late 50’s Dixie was working Miami Beach, at the Place Pigalle. An aeroplane would fly over the beach hotels towing a banner that read ‘see the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, Place Pigalle’ It would always fly past the Fontainebleau where all the celebs of the day stayed, those that went to see Dixie included Sinatra, Bogart, Walter Cronkite and Chris Schenkel who suggested that she should come to the Kentucky Derby. He announced her coming in ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s Marilyn Monroe! Oh, my mistake, it’s Dixie Evans! She’ll be playing at the Post and Paddock this evening.’ They all loved her act which involved Joe and his bat!
One night at the Pigalle the owner came over to Dixie’s table and told her Joe DiMaggio was in attendance, and wanted to talk to her. Dixie said Joe was a gentleman and suddenly as she sat there – she realised she would be performing in front of him and was worried about what Joe would make of her skit and confessed to him that she was concerned, to which he replied ‘why do you think I came here?’ with this Dixie got up and did her thing, which was:
She entered in a tight satin gown, a long scarf, and a Yankee cap, with a number 5 on it – and crying, boo-hooing, which mood she explained in song:
‘Joe, you walked off and left me flat – but I’m sure glad you left your bat…’
There were a few lines about baseball and spaghetti, and how he’d stopped in the middle of making love to say “what’s the score?”…
‘But I know…
You’ll still return my calls
Why? It’s simple – I’ve still got you
By your New Yankee base – (badaboomcha strike up the band)…’
Afterwards, when she came out from her dressing room, Joe stood up and motioned her over. She sat with him all night. He didn’t say much, he never mentioned the act, or talked about Marilyn. But he kept sneaking glances at Dixie, checking her out and he stayed until she’d done her last set at 4.45am then invited her to breakfast.
However, their relationship never got off of the ground and didn’t go past kissing. They apparently arranged a further date but unfortunately, Dixie was due in court for some misdemeanor that she had forgotten about and was unable to let Joe know and she never saw him again.”
Marilyn took a dim view of her imitators, and in 1958 she threatened Dixie with legal action, reports the Telegraph. However, the matter was settled out of court when Dixie agreed to restructure her act.
According to Steve Sullivan‘s Bombshells: Glamour Girls of a Lifetime, Marilyn and Dixie made amends:
“There is a touching anecdote from Dixie Evans, who so resembled Marilyn Monroe. This speaks volumes about both women. After one of Marilyn’s miscarriages, Dixie, extremely upset, sent Marilyn an emotional telegram. Two weeks later Dixie received a response: ‘My dear Dixie Evans, of my many friends and acquaintances throughout the world, your telegram was of the greatest comfort to me at this time. Marilyn Monroe Miller.’ (When Monroe died, Dixie became hysterical, ‘I was crying not only because my career was over, but because Marilyn was no longer in the world.’)”
Burlesque queen Dixie Evans has died in Las Vegas, reports the Long Beach Press Telegram. She was 86.
