'Prince Act' Moves Unusually Fast In Deadlocked Session
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota lawmakers are moving quickly to protect Prince's image.
A bill at the State Capitol gives new rights to artists to control the commercial use of their names, likenesses and images.
Minnesota is a state that does not have laws allowing an artist or their heirs to control the sale of certain products after their death.
Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Minneapolis) is proposing the law, which would restrict the sale of Prince's image, and it would be retroactive. Champion says he was a friend of Prince.
"We just wanted to make sure that that property right was created and that the heirs and estates would have control over any commercial exploitation or any usages of it," Champion said. "They may say, 'It should just be purely charitable,' but we want someone to be able to control that image."
Champion also leads a choir that was featured in some of Prince's music videos. He says he went to some Prince celebrations in the days after his death, and saw people selling T-shirts and other items with Prince's image on it.
He said he started to think, "Doesn't Prince own this?" But, in fact, Princes' estate does not own his likeness in the state of Minnesota.
If Champion's law passes, people who even use Prince "glyph" symbol could be sued by his estate. And companies like Chevrolet -- who released an ad on the day Prince died, featuring the back of a red Corvette, a line from the song "Little Red Corvette" and the years of his birth and death -- could face legal action.
The law, which would affect anyone who dies in the state of Minnesota, is moving unusually fast in this legislative session, which ends in about two weeks.
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