T.S. Monk to sue beer company

[B. Clugston]

"Legal trouble may be brewing for a Northern California brewery that sells “Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale,” with a label showing jazz pioneer Thelonious Monk in his trademark cap and sunglasses in front of a halo of piano keys...." https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Monk-s-son-wins-right-to-sue-over-Brother-12553201.php

[clifford_thornton]

I prefer the beer to T.S. Monk, and I don't like the beer all that much.

[mikeweil]

Although I never tasted that beer, I find the ad rather tasteless, and if T.S. Monk ever consented to it, he definitely must have been made drunk from that beer.

Edited February 9, 2018 by mikeweil

[bertrand]

News to me that TS and the Monk Institute severed their ties in January 2016. No wonder the last competition was in November 2015. There was supposed to be one in October and semifinalists were even chosen, but it was postponed.

I used to volunteer for the competition until it moved to LA. I am really out of the loop.

Bertrand.

[JSngry]

On 2/7/2018 at 4:21 PM, clifford_thornton said:

I prefer the beer to T.S. Monk, and I don't like the beer all that much.

Why the animosity? Seems to me that he learned the need to hustle to survive pretty much without choice, and has been doing so well enough all this time.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

TS has done several things to earn some animosity. I prefer the beer to TS Monk as well.

[JSngry]

Must be "insider" and/or "regional" stuff, I've never heard anything, and you know how bad news travels fast...

[Ken Dryden]

It sounds like one of those cases where it is going to depend what was written in the original contract. I'll leave it to the lawyer's as my opinion isn't needed.

[Brad]

If the brewery didn’t have the right to us Monk’s likeness, I fail to see how they can prevail.  

[Guy Berger]

10 hours ago, Brad said:

If the brewery didn’t have the right to us Monk’s likeness, I fail to see how they can prevail.  

I'm curious - once an individual is deceased, what's the lifespan of an estate's ownership of his/her likeness?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

The whole problem here is that there was an oral agreement in place. As this article states, oral agreements are very difficult to get out of: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverherzfeld/2017/10/19/thelonious-monk-and-the-perils-of-oral-agreements/#5a0b8d21305e

[Brad]

6 hours ago, Guy Berger said:

I'm curious - once an individual is deceased, what's the lifespan of an estate's ownership of his/her likeness?

I looked at this issue a few years ago.  Traditionally, those rights died with the person but in recent years a few states have extended those rights to their legal representatives.  One that comes to mind is Tennessee because of the Elvis Presley Estate. 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

very interesting, 1st i have heard of his, TS is a good dude and i hope he wins.  im actually suprised he ok'd the original deal w/ the beer label.  i saw it a few years ago, and thought, oh thats funny.  but i know who monk is an have his records, but for a regular person- i would say thats kind of 'characterizing' him in beer form that might not make sense to the lay person