His smoldering stare has been illegally printed on T-shirts by dozens of small Chinese businesses through the global marketplace AliExpress. His brooding blue eyes are being absconded with by a Sri Lankan eBay user. Shops on Boston-based Temu and Singapore-based Shein are spreading the “Rebel Without a Cause” star’s downcast and disheveled image on dishware.
Could they not see they were tearing him apart? Or at least tearing apart the future earnings potential of the rightful owners of his image?
Attorneys for James Dean Inc. — which owns those rights — could see it, so sued 87 marketplaces around the globe last year in an attempt to stymie continuing theft of their trademarks.
In December, they filed in the Western District of Texas arguing the companies sold many unauthorized Dean products in the state. On Friday, they succeeded in obtaining an injunction against sellers the court found are likely breaking the law.
“Defendant’s use of the trademarks … they are almost identical replicas of Mr. Dean,” said U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who is overseeing the case. “The late Mr. Dean’s face and other likeness are causing or would cause a likelihood of confusion.”
The corporation is owned by the Indiana-based James Dean Foundation, which is owned by his heirs. The rights to his image are managed by CMG Worldwide, which specializes in celebrities merchandising.
The shops had already stopped peddling their James Dean apparel after a previous restraining order was issued by the court. But the defendants have largely not responded to communications regarding the case from the court or plaintiffs.
“We have received contact from some defendants to discuss settlement, but nothing that would indicate that they intend to appear or challenge this motion,” said Sofia Quezada Hastings, attorney for James Dean Inc.
It’s not the first time Dean’s sultry stare has been the focus of a court battle. CMG, James Dean Inc. or the foundation have sued dozens of times, according to federal court records.
They sued a poster maker in 2005 over Dean’s image use. They sued the Norman Rockwell Museum in 1986. They sued Twitter, now X, in 2014 over the @JamesDean user account. A fan account, it had about 8,000 followers and had sent more than 2,000 tweets when it was shut down.
Most importantly, the Dean entities themselves were sued in 1992, a case that led to them winning unfettered ownership of his image in a landmark case that found movie studios’ contracts with actors did not give them merchandising rights. They defeated media giant Warner Brothers, which claimed not only that it owned the actor’s image but that it was owed $30 million in damages.
Their most recent lawsuit alleges trademark infringement and counterfeiting, along with false designation of origin and seeks unspecified damages from the online sellers.