Licensed Images

[Marcml30]

I saw a review for the new Jedi Knight game and saw that one of the screenshots showed a CGI of Mark Hamil as Luke Skywalker. It was a remarkably good likeness. Incredibly good even. Anyway, it got me wondering if Hamill gets royalties from the use of his image or does Lucas own it as part of the Star Wars franchise? And if image ownership does vary from contract to contract…were there to be a new installment of WC could they freely use Hamill's likeness as a CGI character in the game? Or would they have to have permission/royalties arrangements et al?

 

[LeHah]

Lucasfilm owns the character of Luke Skywalker and one of the ways to identify him is the way he looks. If Lucasfilm were to use Mark Hamill's visage in another form, say, as a model for a movie or another game, he'd have the right to sue unless he signed a release form.

Tom Cruise signed a legal document which prevented his likeness from being used in the Mission: Impossible video games (they "blended" his face with John Travolta's) because he didn't want to be attached to the project and the sum of money was insignifigant if at all.

 

[Marcml30]

Originally posted by LeHah
Lucasfilm owns the character of Luke Skywalker and one of the ways to identify him is the way he looks. If Lucasfilm were to use Mark Hamill's visage in another form, say, as a model for a movie or another game, he'd have the right to sue unless he signed a release form.

I take you to mean "as a model for a non-Star Wars movie or another game...".

Does the same hold true for EA/Origin and the character Christopher Blair and the use of Mark Hamill's visage (and/or Freddie Prinze Jr. for that matter) to represent said character?

 

[LeHah]

Whoops, my mistake. "as a model for a non-Star Wars movie or another game..." is what I thought I typed.

As for Hamill's Christopher Blair, I'm no law student, so I can't really say. I doubt EA did such a thing, as they rarely do live action character cutscenes.

As for Freddie Prinze Jr? I'd think there's a much greater chance since 20th Century Fox released the movie. God knows, film studios are nuts for that bullshit legal "You cannot touch my stuff" type.