Corbis Acquires Dead People

Corbis has acquired Roger Richman Agency, founded 27 years ago, "a licensing firm specialising in dead personalities including Elvis Presley... . It also represents Albert Einstein, the Marx brothers and Steve McQueen. Corbis ... said the acquisition would combine its existing historical images with the ability to secure the rights to license the persona of dead celebrities. Terms were not disclosed. ... Demand for the use of dead celebrities has been on the rise, Corbis said. According to Forbes magazine, Elvis Presley is the highest-paid dead celebrity with annual earnings of $40m, followed by Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, JRR Tolkien and John Lennon" (The Guardian).

See also The Seattle Post, ("Corbis finds lively market for dead stars"): "In the past three years, rights representation and rights clearances has become the fastest-growing segment of Corbis' business. Though it represents less than 10 percent of sales, it is growing at an annual rate of more than 50 percent, Shenk said. Shenk -- who oversees a team of 20 -- said Corbis should be able to expand the dead celebrity business as it takes advantage of the company's global sales force." (See also the press release).

Posted by Andy