Dead Actors’ Fortunes May Hinge on Where They Die in a CGI World

Thanks to advances in computer-generated imagery, James Dean is about to star in a new film—more than 60 years after his death.

To make it happen, the filmmakers needed his heirs’ permission because he died as a California resident. California law grants heirs transferable post-mortem right of publicity, the ability to control commercial use of someone’s name, image or likeness, for 70 years.

Placing Marilyn Monroe in a new movie would have been far easier because her estate, for tax reasons, decided in 1962 that she died in New York, which has no such heritable right.

Advancements in CGI technology ...