Branding of celebrities and their profitable perfume contracts with companies like Elizabeth Arden has been in the news a lot with the passing of Elizabeth Taylor who was one of the first to do so.
The issue came back in the news today as Britney Spears and her father who remains her guardian for financial matters following her erratic behavior in 2008.
Apparently back in 2003 Britney agreed with a marketing company Brand sense that they would help her get licensing deals and would receive a 35% commission. In 2004 there was a profitable deal they agreed to with Elizabeth Arden to produce perform associated with the pop star. The agreement called for Brand Sense to receive the checks then forward them to her after taking out their share.
Over the years the specific phrasing of what licensing agreements were included and exactly how the amount would be paid had changed but it remained at 35% commission for the perfume.
Then it is aleged that Britney and her dad made a new deal with Elizabeth Arden to effectively cut them out of a right to 35% of millions of dollars and have sued for $10 million plus punitive damages arguing breach of contract, fraud and deceit, compensatory and punitive damages etc.
An interesting side note as well is that while Britney continues making millions of dollars on tours, having just put out a new record and the perfume selling well and she appears to be living a normal successful life she has a sort of legal protection as a result of the guardianship. So far although she has been sued for sexual harrasment and has various legal troubles but her guardianship judge has so far not required that she testify or give depositions.
As the result of the guardianship she has the best of all worlds she has an unusual type of immunity at the moment but at the same time living an active life and her estate has skyrocketed while under the guardianship. More frequently a guardianship is in the context of the elderly parent with dementia or at times a child having a legal guardianship if they are going to be inheriting a lot of money and no trust had been setup.
The lawsuit can be reach by clicking here. Based on the very tough and angry language right from the start in point one this sounds like it will be an aggressive fight against her. Apparently she had a separate company named Britney Brands that they sued as well. One other thing I noticed is that they sued her individually, the corporation and her father individually although they did not sue him specifically as her guardian for whatever the reason.
Sources: Miami Herald and TMZ.com
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