(Dead) actors revival

[Sven Koerber]

Hello dear all !

After reading the really interesting feature about Matsuda Yusaku on Midnight Eye (www.midnighteye.com), the remark that this actor still has great popularity in Japan as there is many merchandize with book, action figures and so on with his unique face on it made me think about. Recently I saw two young guys playing a video-game in a used-game shop, and the main figure in this game was ... Matsuda Yusaku ! (Maybe I am wrong, but please take a look at his picture from the game by yourself: http://www.capcom.com/oni2/oni2_teaser.htm ).

There have been quite a lot actors in video-games the last few years, but that should not be so astonishing. This one with Matsuda surely is, because he had passed away decades before his appearance in this game. Perhaps it is kind of a future dream, but looking at the computer-made actor in Lord of the Rings "Gollum", in a few years we could maybe have a lot of revivals of famous and passed away actors not only in games, but films and other media, as the technics required for this are getting cheaper and easier to use.

What makes me wonder is this: as a "living" actor You can choose the films You play in and how the role of Your character is presented. If the role does not appeal to Your likings, religious feelings or whatever, You can always reject to do that job. But how is this handled with dead actors ? There isn't a "copyright on their face" (or is there ?) that hinders one to take the look of a famous star and use it for the purposes they want. If there is a copyright, perhaps it will not last forever, as in books it vanishes after 50 or 70 years after the death of the author. 

What do You think about it ?

Greetings,

Sven Koerber
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