James Dean would have turned 83 today. If he were still alive, perhaps he'd have a Twitter account. But instead, there's just a fan account controlled by unknown owners with more than 8,000 followers.
The management firm that controls Dean's licensing empire thinks the account should be shut down and has sued Twitter over it the matter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The company behind the lawsuit is CMG Worldwide, a firm that controls the commercial estates of a number of deceased celebrities. Its president, Mark Roesler, told The Hollywood Reporter that the firm has asked Twitter to shut down @JamesDean for more than a year.
After Twitter's refusal to cooperate, the firm decided to go to court in Indiana, a state that has some of the most favorable-to-celebrities publicity rights laws.
CMG argues that the account damages the Dean estate, and it's asserting trademark infringement, false endorsement, unfair competition, conversion and violation of the Indiana Crime Victim's Act. CMG also sued the anonymous owner of the account, and is asking for unspecified damages.
The company has a specific policy controlling fan accounts: A fan, parody or commentary account "should not be the exact name of the account subject," according to the terms of the policy. Twitter's rules also state that such accounts should specify in the bio that it's not an official account.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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