Write your abstract here.November 07, 2007
Albert Einstein -Superstar!
According to Forbes Magazine, physicist Albert Einstein is the fifth
highest earning dead celebrity of 2007. Perched atop of list for the
sixth time in its seven-year history was the King of Rock-and-Roll
Elvis Presley, whose estate earned $49 million dollars in the period
between October 2006 and October 2007 (with $35 million of that amount
generated by Graceland admissions alone).
Former Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison were second and fourth
respectively, due mostly to the settlement of two long-standing legal
disputes: one with Apple over the Cupertino company''s decision to enter
the music business and the other with record label EMI over alleged
unpaid royalties. Preceding Einstein on the list in fourth place was
Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, whose comic strips are still
syndicated daily in thousands of newspapers around the world.
Einstein, whose iconic image has graced posters, t-shirts and coffee
mugs for years, has been a fixture on the lucrative dead celebrity
licensing scene but has only risen to the rank of superstar in the last
two years. In 2007, his estate earned $18 million, thanks mostly to the
Disney-owned Baby Einstein franchise, which produces a line of
instructional CDs and DVDs, toys, books, flash-cards and other products
aimed at infants aged 3 months to 3 years.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the beneficiary of the Einstein
estate and receives all proceeds from merchandizing and licensing fees,
which are now handled by Corbis, a purveyor of photography, film
footage and related rights based in Seattle, Washington and privately
owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Gates created the company in
1989 and stores its photography collection (including images by
luminaries like Ansel Adams) 220 feet underground at a storage facility
in a former limestone mine near Butler, Pennsylvania, run by Iron
Mountain Inc.
Corbis also represents rights-holders directly, as is the case with
Einstein, and serves in this capacity for the estates of Andy Warhol
and Steve McQueen, who placed sixth and ninth on the Forbes Dead
Celebrity List.
Corbis recently acquired the licensing rights on behalf of Einstein''s
estate, and those of a number of other celebrities and historical
figures, as part of its purchase of Beverly Hills'' Roger Richman
Agency. That former company maintained a licensing program website at
www.albert-einstein.net, which included the online style guides for the
Einstein Brand and its two sub-brands (Imagination and Knowledge).
Aimed at graphic artists and product and packaging designers, these
style guides ensure consistency across all official merchandise by
standardizing color and font usage as well as providing logos, icons,
background patterns and other design elements, and can be used by
existing or potential licensees to create prototypes and finished
products.
Given the continued popularity of the father of modern physics and the
massive revenue potential he represents, we may have to rethink his
most famous equation and render it anew as Einstein=Much Cash2.