The protectors of Marilyn Monroe's image say a collector who wants $500,000 for a short 1940s stag film is committing fraud and violating the actress' intellectual property rights by claiming it shows her having sex when she was underage.
Mikel Barsa, a Spanish events promoter, insists that the scratchy, black-and-white six-minute film shows the young actress, known then as Norma Jeane Baker, around 1946 or 1947 when she was poor and desperate to break into show business.
Experts on Monroe's life, however, say it's highly unlikely that the smiling young blonde in the film is her. Comparing the film with known Monroe images leaves ample room for doubt.
Whoever the woman in the film may have been, even alleging that it shows Monroe violates her intellectual property rights and will cost Barsa dearly if he goes ahead with the sale, said Nancy Carlson, a spokeswoman for the brand development and licensing company Authentic Brands Group.
Barsa is inviting legal action for "perpetrating a fraud on the public, violating the Monroe estate's exclusive rights to her image and other claims of intellectual property infringement," Carlson said.
Barsa said he'll broker the sale on Sunday anyway and collect his 10 percent from the film's owners, whom he refused to identify.
