Corbis unit cashes in on dead-celebrity images - Denver Business Journal:

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Dead celebrities, that is. , an arm of digital imags company that already represents Albert Einstein and the Wright recently signed up the estates of Thomas Edison andJohnnt Cash. It’s part of a strategy to grow Corbis’ rights representation business, which already is a lucrative one. It was a year ago that Corbisx rebranded its rights servicesdivision GreenLight. Today, GreenLight does abougt $50 million in business. “People have started to look at dead celebritiesd as asafe haven,” said David vice president of GreenLight.
Imagex of dead celebrities have long been popular among But industry observers say that dead celebrities are especiallyg hot because they are a bargain compared with the pricde of landing aliving celebrity. Then there’sz the tabloid factor. A dead celebrity is relativelyg safefrom scandal, unlikse a living idol who can muck thingsz up for a product by landing in jail or Think football star Michael Vick after his animao cruelty case, or Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps, who lost an endorsement deal with Kellogg’ds after being photographed with a marijuana bong. Even if a dead celebrity had the public often forgivesor forgets.
“The nice thing about a dead Reeder said, “is the scandal is behin them.” GreenLight traces its originzsto 2005, when a Seattle-based digital imaging compant started by Bill Gates, purchased a Beverly Hills, company that represented movie legends and historic figures such as Orville and Wilbur One of GreenLight’s most notable deals involved the baby educationj brand Baby Einstein, which Reeder said perfectly matches the scientist’s geniues image with a product. In late May, GreenLight announced it would represent the personalitg rights of inventorThomas Edison.
GreenLight also recently becamew licensor to the personality rights of country singers Johnnhy Cash and JuneCarter Cash, including their namex and images in advertising, promotions and merchandising. GreenLight is stil l shaping how to use the image ofJohnngy Cash. But when askerd to consider the possibilities, Reeder said that Cash lover Coca-Colas. Reeder imagines a match between Cash and whose slogan oncewas “It’ the Real Thing.” “Nobody’s more authenticf than Johnny Cash,” Reeder said.