Ron Goldman's Family Seeks Publicity Rights to O.J. Simpson's Name, Likeness

The murder victim's father tries a new tack in going after the family's share of a $33.5-million civil judgment against the former NFL star.

From the Associated Press

September 6, 2006

The father of murder victim Ron Goldman asked a court Tuesday to give him the publicity rights to the name, image and likeness of O.J. Simpson, who has failed to pay a $33.5-million judgment in a 1997 wrongful-death lawsuit.

"He personally has never paid a dime on the judgment to anyone," Fred Goldman said. "He has made it very clear over the years that he has no intention of doing so."

The petition, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Monica, asks that Simpson's "right of publicity" be transferred to help pay off the Goldman family's portion of the lawsuit award, estimated at about $20 million, plus interest.

A hearing on the petition was scheduled for Oct. 17.

A call to Simpson's attorney, Yale Galanter, was not immediately returned.

Simpson, who lives in Florida, was acquitted after a criminal trial of the June 12, 1994, slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, outside her Brentwood home. No one else has been arrested.

The Goldman and Brown families later sued Simpson. A civil court jury, using a lesser standard of proof than is required at a criminal trial, found him liable for the killings in 1997.