Heirs battle an artist, saying they control images of the slapstick trio.
He cites the 1st Amendment. Saderup's legal foes are the Stooges' heirs. In recent years, Vanna White and the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. have won court battles over the control of, and financial earnings from, famous images. It gives entertainers and athletes the sole ability to cash in on their fame. It has been expanded in the second half of the 20th century to where the likeness itself is a property.