Firstly it is important to outline the legal industry, however in the terms of it withing the business of media.  Chambers writes that “Advertising and marketing lawyers offer advice to ensure a client's products or advertisements are compliant with industry standards, plus general advice on anything from contracts between clients, media and suppliers, to employment law” (Chambers, 2020). The legalities of the media industry are there to ensure that the content being released is not harmful to the audience and abides by the standards set of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. An example of some of the code sections includes Religion, Crime, Abuse and Fairness. 

Although the legal sector is extremely broad, this report is to take a focus onto the use of passed celebrity imagery, and the legalities behind it. Recently, there has been a trend of CGI being used to bring dead celebrities back to the silver screen as if they were still alive and acting for the audience at home. With evolving technologies, celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn (Galaxy Chocolate, 2013) and Carrie Fisher (Star Wars; The Rise of Skywalker) have been brought back to life flawlessly. Mostly pleasing fans with their new breath of life on screen, however, there is a rising legal battle as to whether it is appropriate or not to allow this to happen for simply celebrity endorsement. Richard Dyer reminds his readers that, “Stars are made for profit… stars are part of the way films are sold… Equally, stars sell newspapers and magazines and are used to sell toiletries, fashions, cars and almost everything else.” Dyer, 1986, p.5). However, is a star’s eternal rest from their once hectic career worth the upset of family members and true fans when their image is being used for something they would have never endorsed if they had a say. This is one of the main trends in the legal issues of this topic. 

​

“The image rights and posthumous fortunes of the departed can lay legal and ethical minefields for brands, and raise the morbid question: who owns dead people?” (Usborne, 2013). This is an article from the Independent newspaper and summarises this section of legalities, to simply put the question into writing, who does own the right to dead celebrities?