Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Fund fails to stop use of Diana's 'likeness'

Mark Sage
Saturday 16 September 2000 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The memorial fund for Diana, Princess of Wales, has been ordered to pay £1.6m in legal costs after failing to prevent an American company from using her name onmerchandise.

The memorial fund for Diana, Princess of Wales, has been ordered to pay £1.6m in legal costs after failing to prevent an American company from using her name onmerchandise.

The fund began its battle two years ago to try to stop the Franklin Mint from selling items bearing Diana's likeness and name. In June this year, US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that the products did not imply endorsement by Diana's estate or its fund.

In Los Angeles yesterday, Judge Cooper called parts of the lawsuit "groundless and unreasonable" and ordered the memorial fund to pay the Franklin Mint's legal fees.

The fund has already lodged an appeal against the June decision and its trustees will now consider an appeal against the new ruling.

A spokeswoman for the fund said it believed the ruling was unjust and that it was trying to prevent a "global free-for-all in Diana merchandise"

But the Franklin Mint said the fund's court action was completely unnecessary. "We are gratified that Judge Cooper has ordered the memorial fund to reimburse us for our legal fees. The fact is we never sought this dispute," it said in a statement.

The latest order takes the cost of the action to the memorial fund to £3.3m.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in