O.J.’s right to make a name for himself in jeopardy
SM COURTHOUSE — The family of Ron Goldman on Tuesday filed a motion here to gain control of O.J. Simpson’s “right of publicity,”so that the former football star can no longer profit from the use of his likeness or name until he pays the family more than $38 million.
Standing with his daughter Kim and his team of attorneys, Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, said he wanted to take away the one thing that Simpson cares about most,“himself.”
“Probably the most important piece of property to him, is him,” Goldman said during a press conference on the steps of the Santa Monica Courthouse, where in 1997 a jury in a civil trial ordered Simpson to pay the Goldman family more than $19 million in damages, money which the family said they have never received.
“If we can take (his name and fame) away from him so be it,” Fred Goldman said. “If this renders him some pain, that’s just great.”
On June 12, 1994 Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found stabbed to death outside Brown’s condominium in Brentwood. Simpson was charged with their murders. After one of the most widely publicized arrests and trials in American history, on Oct. 3, 1995, Simpson was found not guilty.
A civil lawsuit was filed and two years later a Santa Monica jury ordered the former Heisman Trophy winner to pay the Goldman and Brown families more than $33 million. With accrued interest, money owed to the Goldmans has jumped to about $38.3 million, according to court documents. Fred Goldman said Brown’s family was not involved with the filing of the motion.
Attorneys for Fred Goldman said Simpson — who currently lives in Florida and survives on a legally-protected pension from the National Football League — has avoided making payments on the civil judgment even though they said he has made an unknown amount of money signing football jerseys,helmets and other memorabilia at trade shows and sports conventions across the country.
Simpson also has participated in a reality television show called “Juiced,” in which the former co-star of the “Naked Gun” comedies would play practical jokes on unsuspecting strangers, according to court documents.
Gaining control over the use of Simpson’s name is another attempt by the Goldman family to try to satisfy the multi-million dollar judgment against Simpson.
A hearing is scheduled on Oct. 17 before Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz, attorneys for the Goldmans said.
“With this filing, Mr. Simpson will finally have to answer, financially, for the judgment against him, something that has never before occurred,” said Jonathan Polak, an Indiana-based attorney specializing in intellectual property cases. “This is an important step in Mr. Goldman finally achieving something that has been denied him by Mr. Simpson for far too long — justice.”
Yale Galanter, a Miami-based attorney who is representing Simpson, said he is currently reviewing the motion.
“I think what they are trying to do is take away Mr. Simpson’s right to earn a living, keep a roof over his head and his children’s heads. That is not right,” said Galanter, who represented Simpson in 2001 when he was tried for burglary and battery in a Florida road rage case in which Simpson was found not guilty.
“This is really another way to seek execution on an already existing judgment in the state of California,” Galanter said.“O.J. does-n’t work in the state at all. Quite frankly, I think this is just a publicity stunt.”
The right of publicity is the right of any person to control the use of his or her name, image, likeness, and persona in commerce.
While there are cases related to the acquisition or transfer of one’s right of publicity, Goldman’s attorneys admitted that they are venturing into uncharted territory. However, they believe there are numerous cases that set a precedent for their motion to gain control over Simpson’s name.
“What we are asking the court to do is no different from ordering Mr. Simpson to sign over the title of his car, except here the right of publicity is an intangible property right,” Polak said. “It’s something you cannot see, you cannot touch, you cannot feel. But nonetheless, it exists.”
Recent transactions involving the sale and transfer of a celebrity’s right of publicity include one in which an investor paid $50 million to acquire an 80 percent share of Muhammad Ali’s intellectual property rights,giving him the right to grant licenses to merchandisers and advertisers to use the name, image and likeness of Ali, Goldman’s attorneys said.
Jay Dougherty, a professor at Loyola Law School specializing in entertainment law and intellectual property rights, said he has never before seen a case quite like the Goldman’s and believes attorneys will have a difficult time convincing a judge to grant their motion.
“It’s hard to imagine a court seizing one’s name from them,” Dougherty said. “But one the other hand, right of publicity is seen as an intellectual property and those are transferable to a certain extent … I’ll be keeping an eye on this.”
Dougherty said the concept of right of publicity was established during the 1950s in a case involving the right to manufacture baseball cards. In that case, the judge ruled in favor of ball players, ordering Topps Chewing Gum to ask for permission from the athletes before printing their picture and statistics.
Karl Manders, president of Indianapolis-based investigative agency Continental Enterprises, which specializes in intellectual property rights, originated the idea of gaining control over the use of Simpson’s name and image. Manders contacted the Goldmans.
“Usually, I am working to force commercial counterfeiters to pay for their crimes,” Manders said.“In this instance, I’ve come up with a way that has never been tried before, but one which we are confident will work.”
It is unclear how much Simpson’s name is worth. Court documents show Simpson earning as much as $200 for an autograph. At one event, Goldman’s attorneys said Simpson signed 115 autographs at $100 and $125 each.
Either way, Goldman said the filing is not about money, but about justice.
“The memories of Ron’s death live right here on the surface. They never go away,” Goldman said of his son’s murder.“This is an opportunity for us to do what we said we would do and that is to get some semblance of justice. Ron deserves it and so does Nicole.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 6, 2006. Read the original PDF.