A Texas judge has allowed the father of the late Tejano singer Selena to proceed with his lawsuit against her widower Chris Perez. Perez intends to turn his memoir "To Selena With Love" into a TV adaptation. The memoir written by Perez details his life with the slain musician.
Abraham Quintanilla, the father of Selena, is not in favour of the show. According to ABC News, Quintanilla says the show is based on what he describes as "an unauthorized book". Perez's lawyers have appealed to have the lawsuit dismissed citing their client's rights to free speech. The lawyers had no immediate comment on the ruling made last Friday.
However, state district judge Guy Williams found that Perez's lawyers failed to provide any proof that the litigation was a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) and eventually ruled in favour of Mr. Quintanilla. Both Selena's parents and two siblings had entered in to an estate properties in May 1995, just a couple of months after the singer's death. Selena died without leaving behind a will, but had transferred certain property rights over to her father prior to her death.
Based on the terms of the estate properties agreement, Abraham Quintanilla is the owner of certain entertainment properties including the voice, name, signature, photograph and likeness of his daughter Selena. This means Perez is not allowed to exploit Selena without expressed written consent of Quintanilla.
According to the Caller Times, Perez got family support for the release of "To Selena With Love" in 2012, and he announced his plans of turning the book of the same name in to a TV series. Eric Medina, a lawyer from the Medina Law Firm in New York City, argued that Perez did not abandon his rights to free speech when he signed the agreement. The lawyer argued that the TV series tells the story from Perez's point of view and does not violate the agreement in any way.
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