Thanks for the memorial
Howard Lake | 25 May 1999 | News
The Times today called for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to be wound up. Its front page carried an illustrated article claiming that “the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is spending £30,000 a month fighting an American legal battle over the late Princess’s image – the same sum it is receiving in public donations every month.”
The Times today called for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to be wound up. Its front page carried an illustrated article claiming that “the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is spending £30,000 a month fighting an American legal battle over the late Princess’s image – the same sum it is receiving in public donations every month.”
The article by Michael Harvey highlighted the fund’s legal battle with Franklin Mint, a US company which “is believed to have earnt [sic] more than £20 million from a range of plates, dolls and rings bearing the Princess’s image.” The fund is suing for alleged infringement of its intellectual property rights.
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The leading article argued that the fund is “now little more than a litigating business exploiting the “Diana” brand name,” and that it “should announce that it is winding itself up and distributing its much-needed capital straight to those charities which the Princess was actively involved.”
While the long-term future of the fund is a legitimate matter of debate, it is unfortunate that the Times should criticise the fund for pursuing the legal fight. While the Times leader acknowledges that “raising money for charity is a commendable activity,” the newspaper’s approach fails to take into account that protecting one’s brand and other intellectual property is, for many high-profile charities, a fundamental aspect of protecting their income-generation activities. The Memorial Fund and its trustees are therefore acting correctly, however easy it is to point out the large sums being spent (once again) on lawyers.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.