The story as it is told
Two things get said about Houdini and the law. One is that he has been dead since 1926, so he is public domain and anything goes. The other is that the Houdini estate owns the name.
In October 2025, in Madrid, a musical called Houdini, un musical mágico was playing at the Teatro Calderón when a commercial court in Alicante ordered its producers to drop the name. The order rested on EU trademark No. 017001181, and it required a notice that the show was not authorized by Houdini's heirs (Cinco Días, October 22, 2025). On November 17, 2025, according to a summary of the court's order (Auto 775/2025) published by the Spanish law firm Hernández Martí, the same court lifted that injunction and required the producers to post security instead. The summary says the court found signs the registration might be void and described "Houdini" as the name of a character in the public domain, used to describe the show rather than to identify its commercial source. The Hungarian tabloid Blikk reported in January 2026 that the case was continuing.
What we can confirm
In the US, works published before 1931 are in the public domain as of 2026. That covers everything Houdini published in his lifetime: his books, such as The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin (1908) and A Magician Among the Spirits (1924); his posters; news photos published at the time; and his five films (1919-1923). New material added later, such as a 2015 restoration score, is a separate work and can still be protected.
The name is a different question. Copyright doesn't protect names; trademark law can, for specific goods and services. Houdini Heritage, a company in Budapest, says on its website that it "oversees the protection and enforcement of the HOUDINI trademark across the European Union." Its site names David Merlini, owner of the House of Houdini museum in Budapest.
Likeness is a third question. Some US states give heirs rights over a dead person's name and likeness in advertising and merchandise. New York's law, Civil Rights Law §50-f, applies only to people who died on or after May 29, 2021, according to the New York Department of State, so it does not reach Houdini, who died in 1926. Other states and other countries have their own rules, which is why merch needs counsel.
What the record supports: Houdini's lifetime works are free to use in the US, while the HOUDINI name is the subject of an active EU trademark claim that a Spanish court has questioned but not cancelled.
The facts
- Houdini Heritage's own description of its role, Budapest, Merlini. houdiniheritage.com
- Alicante court order of Oct 2, 2025, notified Oct 21; EU trademark 017001181; required disclaimer text. Cinco Días, Oct 22, 2025, cincodias.elpais.com
- Injunction lifted Nov 17, 2025 (Auto 775/2025); security ordered; "personaje de dominio público"; possible nullity. Hernández Martí Abogados, hernandez-marti.com (a law firm's summary of the order, not the order itself; the page does not say what part the firm played in the case)
- NY §50-f applies only to deaths on or after May 29, 2021. NY Department of State, dos.ny.gov
Sources
- Houdini Heritage's own description of its role, Budapest, Merlini. houdiniheritage.com
- Alicante court order of Oct 2, 2025, notified Oct 21; EU trademark 017001181; required disclaimer text. Cinco Días, Oct 22, 2025, cincodias.elpais.com
- Injunction lifted Nov 17, 2025 (Auto 775/2025); security ordered; "personaje de dominio público"; possible nullity. Hernández Martí Abogados, hernandez-marti.com (a law firm's summary of the order, not the order itself; the page does not say what part the firm played in the case)
- NY §50-f applies only to deaths on or after May 29, 2021. NY Department of State, dos.ny.gov