ALBANY, N.Y. – There's nothing in New York state law to safeguard the names and faces of New York actors, activists and athletes once they're dead and gone.
But that would change under new legislation being pushed by the likes of Al Pacino and Yoko Ono.
The bill has the support of veteran lawmakers in the Republican-led Senate and in the Assembly's Democratic majority. It also has the backing of such celebrities as Pacino, who wrote a letter to lawmakers at the urging of the estate of the late Lee Strasberg.
The actor and producer received the bulk of Marilyn Monroe's estate before his death in 1982.
The legislation would be protect the names and faces of deceased celebrities from unauthorized use in advertising and promotion.
The effort follows a federal court decision in New York City in which Monroe's estate lost it fight over unauthorized images of the actress on T-shirts.
The current New York law already protects the unauthorized use of celebrities' faces and names while they are alive.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox