[Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images]Courtney Love is running out of fingers to count her losses on. The Hole singer and erratic tweeter has reportedly lost all publicity rights to her late husband Kurt Cobain's image. According to The Fix, sealed documents state that her 19-year-old daughter Frances Bean Cobain (whom Love lost custody of in 2009) now holds any rights to Kurt's name, likeness and appearance. Unless Love can pay back $2.75 million loaned out from Frances' trust fund, she's out for good.
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For the 2.75 million-dollar loan in 2010, Love agreed to relinquish her position as Acting Manager of End of Music LLC, the company that sells Kurt's publicity rights. With that agreement, she lost any say in image licensing affairs along with any royalties generated from that point on until the loan is paid back. When she lost custody of Frances, she also lost any control over Frances' trust fund. Before that, the singer sold 25 percent of the Nirvana catalog for $50 million in 2006. Love was even offered $162 million for the rest of her stake in the catalog, but turned it down despite calling the songs and royalties "cursed."
Presumably, Courtney Love still has a large stake in the Nirvana catalog, sharing it with the band's remaining members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. But considering Love can't even keep a steady home, or even keep her own lawyers, this may soon change.
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Courtney Love's weakening grasp on the coveted estate hasn't prevented her from publicly cementing herself in Nirvana's affairs. In 2011, Love lashed out at Disney for using the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in "The Muppets" movie, saying the movie "raped" Kurt Cobain's legacy and wrongfully claimed she had full authority over the catalog and never gave permission. In 2009, Love raged against video game company Activision for using a Kurt Cobain avatar in their Guitar Hero 5 game, (to the deep dismay of Grohl and Novoselic who were uninvolved) even though the company obtained written consent from Love herself. And her most recent Twitter diatribe against Dave Grohl, accusing the former drummer of hitting on her daughter, certainly didn't help her get any more say in Nirvana-related affairs.
Should Courtney Love have any say in Kurt Cobain and Nirvana business matters? Leave your comments below!
