Brooklyn Beckham says parents Victoria and David Beckham “pressured” him to signing away the rights to his name. What does that mean?
Brooklyn Peltz Beckham takes to Instagram to air family grievances
Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, the eldest son of David and Victoria Beckham, broke his silence on family feud rumors with a scathing post on Instagram.
Brooklyn Beckham’s name isn’t for sale.
Among Beckham’s emotional accusations against his family, detailed in a series of lengthy posts to Instagram stories over the weekend, was the allegation that his parents had pressured him to sign away the “rights” to his name. The eldest son of famed soccer player David Beckham and onetime Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, Brooklyn Beckham has become a public figure in his own right.
His modeling and social media career derives much of its power from his notable surname. His wife, Nicola Peltz, whose relationship to the family lies at the center of the feud, also took the Beckham name when they wed.
“Weeks before our big day, my parents repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name, which would have affected me, my wife, and our future children,” Brooklyn Beckham wrote on social media Jan. 19.
Ahead of the pair’s 2022 nuptials, the eldest Beckham son said his parents “were adamant on me signing before my wedding date because then the terms of the deal would be initiated.”
“My holdout affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since,” he continued.
While the 26-year-old failed to provide further details on what “deal” he was referring to, and for what purpose his parents allegedly hoped to gain access to his name, his assertion could stem from a dispute over trademarks.
While the Beckhams are a family, they are also a brand – a high-profile couple in the U.K. and beyond, wielding heavy influence in both the sports, entertainment and fashion spheres. Their names, and potentially the names of their children, can be used to sell product.
For Brooklyn Beckham, whose nascent career has already begun to take on a star power of its own, that value may be on the rise, putting it possibly in the center of the dispute.
“As merchandising and sponsorship deals have become more popular, celebrities and well-known personalities have taken to protecting their names via trademarks,” Leanne Hall, a trademark attorney in the U.K., tells USA TODAY via email. “The advantage of this is that the owner of the rights has more control as to how their name is being used.”
Beckham said in his social media posts that his relationship to his parents changed after he refused to give up his name rights, which affected their “payday.”
The name Brooklyn Beckham is already trademarked in the U.K., and has been since 2017, Hall says, but there’s no such registration in the U.S. “It is currently held in the name of ‘Victoria Beckham, as parent and guardian of Brooklyn Beckham.’ This is one of many trademarks owned by the family under various different entities. As this mark is currently owned by Victoria Beckham, Brooklyn does not have the legal rights to it.”
But in U.K. law, there’s a defense “whereby individuals can stop a trademark owner, preventing them from using their own name in accordance with honest practices,” Hall added. “As long as use falls within these honest practices,” it would be “acceptable” under U.K. trademark law,” she says.
So, were Brooklyn to have agreed to his parents’ alleged pressure campaign, what would that look like?
In theory, “name rights could be signed away and could limit how names are used in the future,” Hall explains. “However, in practice, it doesn’t always stop someone from using their name altogether.”