Chapter 11 - THE BRAND-CONTROL REVIEW
Richard called Northline the next morning.
Not to cancel the licensing deal.
To pause it.
He sent:
the cognitive evaluation,
his written objections,
and a request for a formal consent review.
Northline’s counsel reacted immediately.
Not because Richard had dementia.
Because the company could not safely license:
name,
image,
voice,
and personal-history rights
without knowing who had authority to approve them.
The deal was not dead.
It was incomplete.
A governance committee reviewed prior approvals.
Some were valid.
Some required re-consent.
Several marketing materials were withdrawn.
No fraud indictment.
No secret criminal conspiracy.
Just bad corporate hygiene amplified by family dynamics.
Richard liked that phrase.
Corporate hygiene.
Boring enough to be useful.
Northline’s counsel proposed a consent matrix.
Personal identity rights:
Richard only.
Company trademarks:
board process.
Archival family photographs:
rights-holder approval.
Corporate strategy:
Caleb and board.
Founder's historical quotations:
verified source plus approval where contract required.
Everyone complained the chart was bureaucratic.
That was why it worked.
May you like
Ambiguity had been emotionally convenient.
Bureaucracy made people say who actually had authority.
