• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers

2

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

3

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

1

New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers

2

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

3

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
TechMusic

Bringing pop star Selena back from the dead reignites ethical debate

By
Dan Reilly
Dan Reilly
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Dan Reilly
Dan Reilly
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 29, 2015, 11:47 AM ET
Mexican singer Selena performing in concert; one month later she would be shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the pres. of her fan club, after confronting her on charges that she was embezzling funds. (Photo by Arlene Richie/Media Sources/Media Sources/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
Mexican singer Selena performing in concert; one month later she would be shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, the pres. of her fan club, after confronting her on charges that she was embezzling funds. (Photo by Arlene Richie/Media Sources/Media Sources/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)Photograph by Arlene Richie — Media Sources/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Back in 2012, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg shocked music fans by performing with a projection of the late Tupac Shakur at the Coachella music festival. The dead rapper addressed fans and mentioned the festival by name, even though he died three years before it was founded.

Reports erroneously referred to the show as a hologram, though in reality it was just a two-dimensional CGI rendering that appeared onstage via the use of mirrors. No matter the terminology, some loved the spectacle while others felt it was exploitative of a long-dead artist.

The stunt didn’t turn into a trend, though. The company behind it, Digital Domain, went bankrupt the same year and reports claim that the one-off event cost around $100,000 to pull off—an expensive fee for a five minute set.

Now the family of another slain artist, Mexican-American crossover singer Selena, is moving forward with similar plans for a concert tour and new songs that is dividing fans and critics.

According to a statement by her estate, Selena “will release new songs and videos, will collaborate with current hit artists and aims to go on tour in 2018.” The project, which has a funding goal of $500,000 via an IndieGogo campaign dubbed ‘Selena The One,’ will be made in conjunction with technology firm Acrovirt.

According to Billboard, Acrovirt’s co-CEO Terry Kennedy says the company will create life-like digital recreations of Selena that will have the ability to interact with fans. “Using detailed individual personalized functions spanning the mind, brain and body, the individual’s Digitized Human Essence will autonomously learn and react on behalf of its human counterparts.”

The debate surrounding the proposed digitized Selena, who was shot and killed by a former business associate 20 years ago, is whether or not the Quintanilla family should be able to manipulate the deceased artist’s image. Is there an ethical line between selling merchandise and album re-issues versus using an artist’s visual and vocal information to create an entirely new product? And, has Selena’s estate crossed it?

The laws concerning a musician’s digital representation after death is complicated says Mitchell Schuster, partner at Meister Seelig and Fein LLP. “During a celebrity’s lifetime, most states protect against the unauthorized commercial use of the celebrity’s right of publicity. However, after a celebrity’s death, the states are not uniform and the answer varies state to state,” he says. “For example, California now recognizes a celebrity’s postmortem right of publicity and in contrast, New York does not. New York has historically treated celebrity personality rights in a manner similar to a person’s right of privacy, which usually expires upon the person’s death.”

If Selena’s estate moves forward with the project it wouldn’t be the first time the music industry used digital recreations of dead artists. In the past, holograms of Michael Jackson and Nat King Cole were created for one-off performances at the Grammys.

However, what the Quintanilla family is proposing is something completely different—they want to turn the once very much alive Selena into a unique digital artist that will perform unreleased songs, new recordings and take part in partnerships that she could not have approved of before her untimely death. In other words, her family is creating a completely unique artist using her personal information.

But, could this technology be used for something that benefits fans and remains true to an artist’s career when he/she was alive? Perhaps. Lots of people would pay to experience recreations of famous concerts and artists using existing audio and visual information. Imagine experiencing Woodstock without the rain, mud, traffic, and lack of modern sanitation; the tickets sell themselves.

But then again, imagine what a money-loving estate could do with the ability to manipulate a beloved artist that is unable to object? CGI already brought us Fred Astaire dancing with a Dirt Devil, Humphrey Bogart drinking a Diet Coke and John Wayne advertising Coors.

An ambitious family and the right corporate sponsor could lead to Selena or some other beloved artist shilling for some product they might never have endorsed (or even knew existed) while alive. Selena could only be the beginning of a slew of pop stars brought back from the dead and virtual innovation has the potential to, and likely will, go too far with its use.

About the Author
By Dan Reilly
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

small keyboard
AIOpenAI
OpenAI’s first hardware device debuted at $230. Now, it’s on eBay for $1,850
By Emily ForliniJuly 27, 2026
6 hours ago
Sam Altman thinks the singularity is already here, but an expert says OpenAI’s Hugging Face breach doesn’t prove it
AISam Altman
Sam Altman thinks the singularity is already here, but an expert says OpenAI’s Hugging Face breach doesn’t prove it
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 27, 2026
6 hours ago
Photo of Elon Musk
SuccessElon Musk
A Nobel economist challenged Elon Musk to donate his entire $1T fortune by 2036. Musk’s reply: ‘I am actually going to do something along these lines’
By Sydney LakeJuly 27, 2026
8 hours ago
Elon Musk’s vision of a post-money future got mocked. Vinod Khosla warns it could become a dystopia instead
AIthe future of work
Elon Musk’s vision of a post-money future got mocked. Vinod Khosla warns it could become a dystopia instead
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 27, 2026
8 hours ago
Dario Amodei looking to the side.
AIAnthropic
A trove of users’ seemingly private conversations with Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot showed up in Google search results
By Beatrice NolanJuly 27, 2026
11 hours ago
The war between competing AI models could end up more like Apple vs. Android than VHS vs. Betamax
AITech
The war between competing AI models could end up more like Apple vs. Android than VHS vs. Betamax
By Jason MaJuly 27, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers
Retail
New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers
By Sarah GlodekJuly 27, 2026
21 hours ago
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
C-Suite
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 27, 2026
12 hours ago
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
3 days ago
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
Success
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 25, 2026
3 days ago
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
Economy
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 26, 2026
2 days ago
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
Commentary
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
By Austin SaratJuly 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.