Lawsuit claims Selena's husband Chris Perez (R) was unauthorized to publish To Selena With Love or option the rights to make a television series. (Image of book: courtesy Endemol. Photo of Perez: Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Latina Magazine)  Just weeks after Endemol Shine North America announced it would develop a television series about Tejano music queen Selena’s love story with her husband Chris Perez, the project faces a legal roadblock.  The late singer’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. on Friday filed a suit in a Texas court against Endemol and Perez to stop production of the series, alleging that only Selena’s estate has the right to her name, image and “to author or authorize and commercially exploit a book, play, video, film, TV movie” about her life.  Earlier this year, Endemol Shine signed a deal with Perez to adapt his best-selling book To Selena With Love, published in 2012, which tells the story of his romance with Selena from his perspective. Perez was married to the star from 1992 until she was murdered in 1995. She was only 23.  The suit states Perez is in violation of an Estate Properties Agreement he signed two months after her death in 1995. That agreement stipulates that Quintanilla, Jr. is the exclusive rights holder of all “Entertainment Properties,” which includes contract, trademark and copyright rights, rights to income, rights of publicity, rights to name, voice, signature, and photographs, among other rights, “throughout the world in perpetuity without restriction.”  According to the suit, Perez accepted the terms of the Estate Properties Agreement and in doing so, “agreed to receive, among other things, twenty-five percent (25%) of the net profits derived from the exploitation of the Entertainment Properties.”  That means that Perez’s book To Selena With Love, which includes a photo of the star on its cover, was published in breach of contract, and is considered “unauthorized.”  “The petition states Mr. Perez violated the Entertainment Properties agreement. He doesn't have the rights to publish a book or produce a television series based in any part on Selena,” says Quintanilla estate attorney Simran A. Singh. “Among other things, we are seeking a judicial declaration that the defendants have no right to exploit the series and stop production.”
The lawsuit claims Selena’s widower wrote an unauthorized book and that only her father, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr., has exclusive rights to option the television rights to any stories related to the life of the iconic ‘Queen of Tejano music.’