By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
March 9, 2000
When your name’s Bela Lugosi Jr., sometimes people don’t hear the “junior” part.
“I’m not sure if my name is a blessing or a curse,” says Lugosi, 62, son of the late horror movie legend who starred in “Dracula.” “There are some people who assume that because my dad was an actor, that I must’ve wanted to become one, too. Early on, I took my dad’s good advice and stayed out of the talent side of entertainment. Instead, I became a lawyer.”
Ah. A bloodsucker of another kind.
“I guess you could look at it that way,” says Lugosi, with a good-natured chuckle. “I just didn’t want to go that route. None of my children are actors, either. Maybe the grandkids will take after dad.”
Lugosi, the only child of Bela Sr., was 18 when his father died. He is an expert on the legal rights of dead celebrities. He will give a lecture at noon today at DePaul Center in downtown Chicago. A reception will follow at 3 p.m. at 25 E. Jackson. Both events are free to the public.
Though he didn’t begin representing heirs of celebrities until seven years ago, Lugosi is no stranger to protecting the legacy of famous names. In 1977, he was the plaintiff in Lugosi vs. Universal, which challenged the use of his father’s image by Universal Pictures.
So, how do you go about protecting the rights of someone who is dead and still famous?
“There are laws that state that the rights of the commercial use of the names and likeness of deceased celebrities belong to heirs or the estates of those celebrities,” he says, phoning from Los Angeles. “Sometimes celebrities contract the rights away before they die. But if their rights are infringed upon, then the representative of the estate can send a cease-and-desist letter and either shut them down, or sign them up to be a licensee.
“There are only a handful of icons that everyone is after, and my dad is among them. Marilyn Monroe and James Dean are so popular that they just naturally have people calling all the time to make deals. I think that the people who handle Elvis Presley’s rights do a wonderful job.”
And if you’re a celebrity, it’s never too soon to begin protecting your rights.
“There are people buying up celebrity domain names for the Internet and then reselling them at inflated costs,” he adds. “The Internet is a tricky situation because there are a lot of fan sites that obviously use unlicensed material. . . . Even Disney gets ripped off. You don’t want to lose your trademark rights, but you also want to keep those fans in your camp.”
Asked whether he expected to answer questions about his father today, Lugosi says, “Yes. I get those every day when people hear what my name is so I don’t expect it to be any different (at this engagement). I don’t mind. I’m very proud of my dad.”
