Entertainment attorney Donald Passman weighs in on holograms and copyrights
By John Ifejika / News / April 18, 2012 / 1909 Views

Last week's hologram performance of Tupac raises questions into a new perspective of entertainment law. In what seemed like a novelty, holographic images of artists can potentially become commonplace in the world of entertainment. Billboard sat down with entertainment attorney Donald Passman to discuss how this could change the business of live performances. In summary he mentions that images of Tupac and other famous deceased musical icons can go on tour in many venues across the world, which begs the question: who owns the copyrighted image? Copyright owners may experience difficulty in deciding an appropriate figure to charge, but one thing is for certain: for the time being it won't be cheap. Below is an excerpt from the discussion, and click here to read the full article by Billboard.

How much would it cost to use Tupac's likeness for two songs at a Coachella performance? "Boy, I have no idea," says Passman. "I guess if I represented him I would want a good sized fee for it because it's an element of the show. And I could go anywhere from what I would charge as a live artist to show up as a guest down to what I would charge to do a lighting design." But he admits arriving at a fee wouldn't be easy. "There's no precedent for it."

  • show-gun

    thats fucked up nobody owns tupac hes fuckin dead.  fuck lawyers

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  • Guest

    you have no idea what you're talking about.  no matter what happens, if someone tours a hologram artist, someone is gonna sue that company claiming they own the rights to its image.  It's gonna open up some crazy new law suits because EVERYONE is after money.  

  • Bluthstein

    thanks a lot Dr. Dre, for fucking things up. Tribute to this shit, next Jimi Hendrix, set fire to his guitar, from a fucking computer in real life. FUCK

  • http://twitter.com/SpacePoliceman Mike gnomesayin bro

     Actually tupacs mother is in charge of his estate, so she does own the rights.

  • http://twitter.com/beetzbymE Beatzbym.E.

    his mom should be the one who owns all the copy rights! 

  • Guest

    Isn't Pacs mom a crack head?  If she does own the rights the statement would then be she did own the rights, that business has already been sold for powder baby.

  • Shawn Sepehry

    The interesting point for me is that it's more of a tribute act rather than a hologram of tupac. It's mocap of one guy, and the voice of anothe impersonating tupac. When I first heard about this I thought it would be footage from a performance. This is CG with someone elses voice. 

    In that sense, doesn't that fit into the same guidelines as KISS tribute bands in terms of Copyright?

  • http://www.facebook.com/asunkee Jamila Wallace

    She gave the go-ahead on it, though. She loved it.

  • SCMBGS

    Just got off the phone with Pac.  Said, "Thug Life".
    brilliantarrogance.com