TMZ is reporting that the father of Eddie Gilbert, Tommy, is suing WWE for using his son’s image and likeness on the WWE Network without paying any sort of royalties.
The dad, who is in charge of Eddie Gilbert’s estate, is not suing to block the footage but to get compensated in return.
According to docs … Eddie’s dad, Tommy Gilbert, is in charge of the estate and says the WWE is plastering his son’s image and likeness all over TV and other media platforms without permission — and, more importantly, without paying them a dime.
Tommy says old wrestling footage of Eddie — a pro from ’79 until his death of a heart attack in ’95 — is being used to promote the WWE. Gilbert wrestled for the then WWF between 1982 and 1984 and also wrestled for the UWF, Crockett Promotions, WCW, and others. He passed away in February 1995 at age 33 from a heart attack.
“Through the years, WWE has acquired the legal rights to library footage of various former wrestling organizations including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Mid-Southern Wrestling among many others,” a WWE spokesman told TMZ. “WWE has made substantial investments to acquire these copyrighted works and has the legal right to use them.” The same rep said that similar cases in the past were filed against WWE and all were unsuccessful with WWE winning each case.
