Hot Toys - MMS - X-MEN First Class - Professor X (Charles Xavier)

[Ramatuelle]

Sounds reasonable. Where did you learn this?

He learned it because it is common knowledge. Very, very few actors retain such rights related to merchandising, as in the power to veto. If anyone failed to sign off on a license it wasnt the actor, it was probably Marvel or the studio making the film. But probably Marvel.

 

[DFanatic]

He learned it because it is common knowledge. Very, very few actors retain such rights related to merchandising, as in the power to veto. If anyone failed to sign off on a license it wasnt the actor, it was probably Marvel or the studio making the film. But probably Marvel.

I never heard this level of "likeness" talk anywhere else but here on sideshowfreaks. Some chump must have made these claims once and everybody here just went with it.

"Oh, this figure is so expensive... it must be because of the likeness fees."

 

[Username]

Yeah. What Ramatuelle said ^^

It's signed into law in practically every country. Anyone on the street is allowed to protect their image and how it is shown in the public eye. It covers videos or pictures taken of you and which you don't want publicly broadcast, etc. Sometimes it's hard to police when items are in the public domain, but when it's something like a movie contract, it's written into the contract that the actor signs away their *personality rights*. In the case of a movie or TV show, the actor is well compensated, so they don't care, and it's frequently part of the deal(If an actor wants more because of this part of the deal, their agent would haggle about that. It's not unknown for an actor to haggle for a percentage of final product bearing their likeness, hence the reason there are occasionally action figures that look NOTHING like the actor, if the studio doesn't want to haggle).

Personality rights are generally considered to consist of two types of rights: the right of publicity, or to keep one's image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I never heard this level of "likeness" talk anywhere else but here on sideshowfreaks. Some chump must have made these claims once and everybody here just went with it.

"Oh, this figure is so expensive... it must be because of the likeness fees."

It became frequent because of Jack Nicholson and the rumour or fact, who knows, that he has rights back when he signed on for Joker.

_____

Well it's coming up to two years since this was announced, where the hell are the figures? The avengers TDKR marathon has passed, no excuses for this being backburned now.

 

[Username]

It became frequent because of Jack Nicholson and the rumour or fact, who knows, that he has rights back when he signed on for Joker.

Nicholson is such a big star, he always keeps his personality rights.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Nicholson is such a big star, he always keeps his personality rights.

So it is possible then for Actors to hold rights completely or have it written into contracts to have final say of their likeness.

 

[Username]

So it is possible then for Actors to hold rights completely or have it written into contracts to have final say of their likeness.

No.
This was 25 years ago.
Nicholson had never been part of a franchise that required a personality right deal. It was in the contract and he had it changed to have final say.
There's no-one that powerful now, and it's a part of the contract they sign at the very beginning.
If any modern stars asked for final veto, the studio would likely negotiate a better contract for them but it would include the studio keeping the personality rights.

 

[RaZaTrOn]

Just gonna have my say, today in the world of media studios aren't looking to create a decent movie, they are looking to create a brand. Something that will sell on multiple platforms, globally and earn them as much money as possible. The range of platforms varies from movie to movie but the majority of blockbusters and superhero films spread across all platforms.

Toys are a big part of that today and so actors can't retain any rights when signing onto something like this purely for legal reasons.

 

[mrjasontodd]

Exactly. Agents know that their clients even considering signing onto a flick like these will see figures and other merch. Maybe the bigger stars can haggle a little more likeness rights money, but the the **** is Fassbender?

 

[EVILFACE]

McAvoy sure isn't big enough to control his likeness rights in movies.

 

[RaZaTrOn]

I think it's rare nowadays that studios haggle the actual details of a contract. It's more a case of yeah I'll sign it if you add an extra '0' see Mickey Rourke and SLJ, they had this issue to do with pay I believe.

And then you have older stars like Sir Ben Kingsley who is the Mandarin, he will no doubt have some pulling weight when it comes to negotiation due to his name and out of respect. But I think the studio would rather get someone else than start messing about with the ins and outs of the contract purely due to time and time is money. However I think that actors of that generation don't really care about this idea of a brand, all they care about is what they fell in love with in regards to acting so they don't care if they will be plastered on paper plates and cups all they care about is being the best they can in the film.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Begs the question why no Fassbender figure yet? Two licenses have him and neither has a figure of him

 

[RaZaTrOn]

Maybe they are having trouble with his sculpt, or maybe they have done it. There are a multitude of reasons behind why he hasn't had a figure shown yet. Actual likeness reasons are out of the question when you think of it because all Hot Toys teasers show the small print of 'pending licensor approval' which means that even if they hadn't been approved by Fox/Marvel they could still show the figure and change it. I really think Hot Toys should do more Q&A's the only trouble is the language barrier. I know in a recent interview (last year!) the same one that mentioned First Class having two figures being worked on, it was misinterpreted that Black Widow would have sculpted hair. Be nice to have some information though.

 

[Username]

Begs the question why no Fassbender figure yet? Two licenses have him and neither has a figure of him

What about the DiD Muller figure?

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

That's not official though, right?

And not from HT's X-Men or Prometheus licenses

 

[Username]

That's not official though, right?

And not from HT's X-Men or Prometheus licenses

Of course not.
But it proves his lawyers didn't instigate proceedings.
Blowing the "He didn't give his permission for his likeness to be used" argument out of the water.

 

[Ramatuelle]

Exactly. Agents know that their clients even considering signing onto a flick like these will see figures and other merch. Maybe the bigger stars can haggle a little more likeness rights money, but the the **** is Fassbender?

A relative nobody, that's who. He certainly is no Nicholson or Sigourney Weaver, who is the first person who comes to my mind concerning an actor's controlling the rights to their own likeness.

Smart money says this has NOTHING to do with Fassbender churlishly refusing to allow his likeness to be used. I highly doubt he has that power.

A more likely scenario is that HT has scrapped this line, perhaps preferring to wait for the sequel. And actually, things are NOT looking too hot for the Prometheus line either. We have seen ONE spacesuit so far. Not even a full figure, a space suit! And Prometheus was not even as popular as this somewhat low-key X-Men movie, I would not at all be surprised to see HT cut their losses regarding it. After all, we have TONS of other, larger, hotter properties coming up. How willing will HT be to continue pouring development time into these lesser lines?

[Even Tron was a more iconic franchise. And we got a grand total of one figure out of that. One.]

So how willing will they continue to be to keep developing? Only HT knows, and they are not talking. Meanwhile I would not hold my breath regarding ANYthing in the X-men: 1st Class and Prometheus lineups. Its not looking like they have a very high priority.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Of course not.
But it proves his lawyers didn't instigate proceedings.
Blowing the "He didn't give his permission for his likeness to be used" argument out of the water.

Probably never seen it

 

[meanstreak]

There were two Tron figures I believe.

 

[Username]

There were two Tron figures I believe.

One figure. And one non-posable character on a bike.
So, one...