Although courts have recognized for nearly 50 years that people have a right to profit from the use of their images, the surge of litigation in the 1990s can be attributed to the skyrocketing value of endorsements, the Internet and increasingly sophisticated computer technology that makes it relatively cheap and simple to rip off someone's image and sell it around the world. People want to feel close to and identify with celebrities. A lot of third parties try to exploit this for their own profit. Rush doesn't get it. He started selling his works 23 years ago with his brother Don and a letter of introduction from legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant.
Rush claims a right to paint and sell pictures of public events that occur in public places.
But he denies hawking cheap souvenirs for a fast buck. We don't do that. We create fine art. Etw's lawyer, Timothy P. Fraelich of Cleveland, declined to comment directly on the case. The agency wants all prints of the painting destroyed and an accounting of Rush's profits from the work.