The Roger Richman Agency
Encyclopedia
The Roger Richman Agency, Inc. was a licensing agency that specialised in personality rights
. It licensed the use of the imagery, persona and likeness of various well known entertainment celebrities
(eg. Steve McQueen
) and historical personalities (eg. Sigmund Freud
, Albert Einstein
). In 2005, Corbis
Corporation acquired the agency and maintains it as a business line today as part of its Rights Services division.
As a licensee, the agency does not own trademark
rights in relation to the use of celebrity names and likenesses, but it may enter sub-licensing arrangements with other parties who may wish to use these names and likenesses for commercial purposes. The licensing of famous names for this purpose is seen by some as a controversial issue.
Personality rights
"Personality rights" is a common or casual reference to the proper term of art "Right of Publicity". The Right of Publicity can be defined simply as the right of an individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness or other unequivocal aspects of one's identity...
. It licensed the use of the imagery, persona and likeness of various well known entertainment celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
(eg. Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
) and historical personalities (eg. Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
). In 2005, Corbis
Corbis
Corbis Corporation is an American company, based in Seattle, Washington, that licenses the rights to photographs, footage and other visual media...
Corporation acquired the agency and maintains it as a business line today as part of its Rights Services division.
As a licensee, the agency does not own trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
rights in relation to the use of celebrity names and likenesses, but it may enter sub-licensing arrangements with other parties who may wish to use these names and likenesses for commercial purposes. The licensing of famous names for this purpose is seen by some as a controversial issue.
External links
- The Roger Richman Agency's official website — "celebrated personalities deliver instant recognition, recall and credibility to your advertising campaign and/or promotional program".