New Zealand – Lomu's wife denounces the “illegal exploitation” of her husband's image

It has now been eight years since Jonah Lomu, rugby's ultimate superstar and catalyst for the sport's professionalisation, lost his life. Today, his wife Nadine and sons Braylee, 14, and Deray, 13, still live in Auckland and fight day in and day out to ensure the memory of Jonah the Great lasts as long as possible. At the beginning of the week, Nadine sent us a message telling us she had been fighting for several days to prevent the broadcast of a documentary tracing the life of the former All Blacks winger, who died aged 40. After a long illness. “Jonah is no longer here to defend the rights of his children, so this task now falls to me.”you write in the preamble.

Nadine Lomu: Protecting my children and their property is the most important thing

Thus Nadine Lomu sent several letters to the New Zealand Film Commission denouncing it “exploitation of the image” From her late husband. She explains like this: “I believe that the documentary about Jonah Lomu, which was filmed without my knowledge and consent, is illegal. I have attached to this letter screenshots of registered intellectual property documents, which have been filed, approved and registered with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), noting that all Something relating to my late husband – Jonah Lomu’s name, his image and any film production directly related to him – must be approved and authorized by me as the owner of this intellectual property.” To do this, Nadine Lomu wants “Protecting the health of Jona Lomu’s heritage [ses] Two sons.”

The message ends as follows: “Personally, I have been portrayed so negatively by the public that raising this issue could reignite or spark more negativity towards me. But as any mother knows, protecting my children and their property remains the most important thing to me.”. Will the battle that Nadine Lomu recently started lead to the abandonment of the project in question?