Until recently, stars could not foresee that technology would enable the use of their screen work for any reason other than the intended purpose. As today's actors become aware of this, legal experts profess, their wills could become more specific as to how they want to be cast after the final curtain has fallen. But even the most protective of estates may not be prepared for today's body-snatching technologies.
"People are working on totally digital models of people," says Joseph Beard, professor of law at St. John's University and author of "Casting Call at Forest Lawn: The Digital resurrection of Deceased Entertainers" (High Technology Law Journal, 1993). "Instead of cutting them out of an existing film, you'll be able to create a Marilyn Monroe and not rely on old films in order to put her in something new."
I think it’s only in the last decade or so that it’s become a practical reality, with likenesses of deceased actors popping up in films. Until this point, it’s probably been enough of a hypothetical that it wasn’t worth fighting over.
