Famous American painter, Robert Norman Ross passed away at the age of 52 in Orlando city in Florida in Orange County, United States on 4th July 1995 due to a dangerous tumour or we can say a severe version of cancer named, “Lymphoma”. Not only the death of Bob Ross brought pain and suffering among the whole Ross family but after the death of the painter, one of the biggest battles that his family fought was the right to the intellectual property of Ross. The host as well as the creators of ‘The Joy of Painting”, Ross was a very private person when he was alive, because, he kept his disease so well hidden among the public until his death.
Recently a documentary on Netflix named, “Bob Ross: Happy Accidents” which is based on the life of the iconic painter or more precisely based on the aftermath of his death was released for the viewers on 25th August 2021, Wednesday. The documentary is more so of the legal battle and sheds light on the lawsuits that set claim to the Bob Ross brand. After the death of Ross, his legacy and intellectual property including his painting and other souvenirs remained at the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha under a plate stamped, “Bob Ross: Television Arist.”
As per the statements and terms of Bob Ross Inc, after the passing of any partner in the company, the dead person stock shall be equally divided among the partners. After the death of Ross, Kowalskis was the sole owner of the company who was mainly and only we can say was interested in using the name of Ross for painting supplies. It was very hard for the family member of Ross as well as for his associates to cope with the pressure that they are facing from Kowalskis.
As per the sources, Kowalskis went over the board and pressurized an ill Ross to sign over the rights to his property before his death. However, instead, in the will and testament, Ross removed Kowalskis out of his will and left his property and rights to his name and property to his son, Steve Ross and half-brother, Jimmie Cox.
Kowalskis later claimed that all the work that Ross did in his entire life was work for hire and thus, the 52-year old painter had no right to will them. The legal battle was finally put to a halt when Ross’s son, Steve lost the rights of the intellectual property of his father and Kowalskis won the same. After Kowalskis retired, Joan Kowalski took over Bob Ross Inc and managed an agreement with Ross and Cox permitting the company the right to Ross’name and picture, in exchange for a guarantee.
