why do actors think they own their characters
CC
Because in this case, it appears he does.
I'll have to take the side of Max Baer Jr on this one. He was not well compensated when they were shooting these episodes, they wrecked any future career for him as a result of his being typecast, and I would say an person ought to pretty much own their own image.
Intellectual property laws seem to me to be subject to a lot of abuse nowadays.
“why do actors think they own their characters”
Because the licensing rights are sometimes a very lucrative portion of the actor’s total contractual compensation for his services as an actor, spokesperson, and publicity attraction. This is especially true for some television series actors who are too typecast in a long running series to secure enough future roles to amount to any further substantial compensation.
Well, in this case, because he actually does. They cut a deal with him to give him these licensing rights.
The Beverly hillbillies was a Max Bear Production. He wasn’t just an actor.
Because,
"...snagged a deal with CBS in 1991 allowing him to license the use of that fictional character for things like restaurants, hotels and casinos..."
He does.
He doesn’t. He is claiming they breached a CONTRACT they had with him