The Licensing Letter

Celebrity

The Scott Brothers Sign With Octane 5

Octane5, the company behind the BrandComply Licensing Enterprise System, announced the client addition of Scott Brothers Global (SBG), parent company of home furnishings collection Scott Living, founded by Drew and Jonathan Scott, hosts of HGTV’s Property Brothers. “Our collaboration with Scott Brothers Global perfectly fits our mission of partnering with innovative and … [Read more...] about The Scott Brothers Sign With Octane 5

Last Week’s 4/20 Sales Reached $182 Million; Licensed Sales Still Lagging Behind Potential

Retail sales of cannabis and related merchandise reached $182 million during the 4/20 holiday period (4/18–4/20), up 30% from the same period last year, according to MJ Freeway. The actual day (a Saturday) garnered $80 million in sales, of which 45.3% was for flowers, 39% for cartridges/pens, 12% for concentrates, and 10% for edibles. The largest share of dollar sales were by … [Read more...] about Last Week’s 4/20 Sales Reached $182 Million; Licensed Sales Still Lagging Behind Potential

Celebrating the Beauty in Diversity

Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Kimora Lee Simmons Leissner reclaims Baby Phat, her old streetwear brand created to bring a voice to women of color in fashion, in part because of the influence of daughters Ming Lee (19) and Aoki Lee (16). Having personally purchased the label under undisclosed circumstances, she will relaunch Baby Phat by summer of this … [Read more...] about Celebrating the Beauty in Diversity

Right of Publicity & Using Celebrities Without Permission

Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Consider, for a moment, the following situations: EA Sports uses likenesses of well-known college athletes as characters for its video games Samsung uses images and bios of legendary Olympians for its “Genome Project” app Pitbull mentions Lindsay Lohan in a song lyric Abercrombie and Fitch uses a famous surfer’s photo in … [Read more...] about Right of Publicity & Using Celebrities Without Permission

Ruth, Ross & Rogers: America’s Top Personalities

Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Americans can't seem to get enough of the three R's—Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), The Joy of Painting's Bob Ross, and the host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Fred Rogers. They're calm, they're kind, and they're what we need right now. First things first, let's not take this out of proportion. All together, … [Read more...] about Ruth, Ross & Rogers: America’s Top Personalities

Right of Publicity: Where Does Your State Stand?

The right of publicity comes from state rather than federal law—via statute or common law (i.e., case law) and, in some cases, from both sources. But there are also 18 states that don’t recognize an individual’s right of publicity. Here’s a geographic rundown. Learn more about how the right of publicity plays into the unauthorized use of a celebrity for commercial … [Read more...] about Right of Publicity: Where Does Your State Stand?

Fragrance: Hit Me One More Time

Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Retail sales of licensed fragrance grew 1% in 2017 to reach $3.98 billion in the U.S./Canada, according to TLL's Licensing Business Survey. Britney Spears and Revlon have teamed up to launch Britney Spears Prerogative, a new fragrance inspired by the singer’s career and her 24th in all. The gender-neutral scent features an … [Read more...] about Fragrance: Hit Me One More Time