While I take you point (as to copyright) Scott, they do, arguably, have a
legal leg to stand on.

http://www.forbes.com/2002/08/12/0812cmg.html

"Agents of the Dead" by Mark Lewis.

"Indiana’s 1994 statute extends the inheritable right of publicity for 100
years after a celebrity’s death, which is why Mark Twain Mark Twain(who
died in 1910) is today a CMG client. Roesler no longer represents Presley,
but the CMG roster does include such distinguished dead people as Babe Ruth
, Buddy Holly, Malcolm X and Princess Diana ."

There are other such organizations.

DDD


On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 2:02 PM, Scott Holmes <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> The site claims to represent the estate of Mark Twain and controls all
> use of his likeness, etc. for business purposes.
> http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/index.php
>
> Given that almost all of his work is in public domain, what do they
> actually control.  Are they, in fact, just posers.  The site is not
> particularly impressive as web sites go.
>
> I am curious because I've developed a audio/video book of "A Connecticut
> Yankee in King Arthur's Court" on a 32GB flash drive that I'm hoping to
> market.  It contains an icon of a rather well worn photo of Twain.  As
> far as I know, all my materials are public domain
>