Marilyn Monroe might be the third highest-earning dead celebrity but thanks to a recent Ninth Circuit ruling, her estate might not fully enjoy the fruits of her death.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday Monroe was domiciled in New York — not California — at the time of her death, meaning her estate can't take advantage of California's strict publicity rights laws, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The estate had the option of registering Monroe as a domicile of California when she died but chose not to do so at the time because of the state's high taxes.
So now, the estate has to abide by New York's laws, which don't allow post-mortem publicity rights, meaning the estate might lose out financially when someone uses Monroe's likeness, according to THR.
"Monroe’s representatives took one position on Monroe’s domicile at death for forty years, and then changed their position when it was to their great financial advantage; an advantage they secured years after Monroe’s death by convincing the California legislature to create rights that did not exist when Monroe died," Ninth Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote in the court's decision.
"Marilyn Monroe is often quoted as saying, 'If you’re going to be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty,'” Wardlaw wrote.
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