Lucrative Legacy

Silver-screen goddess Marlene Dietrich was a fiercely private person who became one of the 20th century's most enduring icons. With her perfect bone structure and aloof beauty, she was emblematic of Hollywood's glamorous heyday -- a quality with enormous economic potential.

And although she spurned the limelight, La Dietrich was by no means averse to topping up her bank account with the occasional ad -- promoting everything from Luxor soap and Lucky Strike cigarettes to Rheingold beer and Air France.

Posthumous marketing

In the cut-throat world of celebrity culture, most stars are happy to spend the time when they're "resting" between roles to plug a few products in exchange for a juicy pay check. It's a mutually beneficial relationship.

So beneficial, in fact, that most corporations don't want it to end, even when the star dies.

Using dead celebrities to sell products is common practice -- as illustrated by a recent ad launched by ailing US retailer Gap which uses Audrey Hepburn to sell skinny black jeans.

And while stars can rely on personal rights protection acts to stop their identity being abused during their lifetime, it's a different matter after their death.

A legal battle

But it all went too far for Marlene Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva, now 74.

After the actress died in 1992, Riva wasted no time embarking on a legal battle to curb the many incidents of unauthorized use of the Marlene Dietrich image for profit.

The Constitutional Court ruling brought an end to the 13-year battle she waged against electronics giant Toshiba, which used a still from the 1929 movie classic "The Blue Angel" in a commercial in 1993.

She was equally outraged by commercials launched by Fiat and cosmetics company Ellen Betrix, while, also in 1993, musicals impresario Friedrich Kurz produced a show about Dietrich entitled "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," complete with merchandising ranging from mugs to t-shirts.

All campaigns were started without permission from the Dietrich estate, prompting Riva to sue for damages.

The case marked the first time the Constitutional Court has reached a ruling on the criteria for commercial use of images of deceased stars.

Setting a new precedent which extends personal rights protection beyond death, it upholds the dignity of the deceased, and also leaves Maria Riva 70,000 euros ($89,000) better off.