Making a Killing From Crime : Profiting from Manson song or T-shirt is outrageous and wrong

Few who were living in Los Angeles in August of 1969 can forget the unspeakable murders that took place here. On successive nights, followers of Charles Manson broke into two homes and killed seven people, including actress Sharon Tate, who was stabbed repeatedly as she begged for her life and that of her unborn child.

Manson is serving a life sentence. Despite his despicable crimes--or, more accurately, because of them--some entrepreneurs have used the Manson name and image to sell everything from books to posters. In 1992 a set of trading cards featuring mass murderers, Manson among them, was marketed.

Now, add two products to this hall of shame. One, the new album “The Spaghetti Incident?” by the already notorious rock group Guns N’ Roses, features “Look at Your Game, Girl,” a song written by Manson. Another, a T-shirt being marketed by Zooport Riot Gear, a Newport Beach shop, has Manson’s likeness on the front and the words “Charlie don’t surf” on the back. A similar shirt was worn by Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose on stage and in a video.

Manson already has earned a few bucks for the T-shirt sales and could rake in as much as $62,000 in royalties for every million albums that Guns N’ Roses sells.

It’s not the first time that Rose has projected a bad-boy image. A track he wrote for Guns N’ Roses’ 1987 debut album “Appetite for Destruction” caused an uproar because of its degrading references to gay men and African Americans. Rose also has a reputation for on-stage tirades and even violent outbursts.

Reputation notwithstanding, the singer should in all decency withdraw the Manson track from future album copies. If he does not, the band’s recording label, Geffen Records, should; Geffen already is said to be considering donating its share of the profits from the song to a crime victims organization.

While criminals are, in some instances, legally entitled to profit from their notoriety, that doesn’t mean that taste and restraint have to go out the window. That principle is no less true when it’s applied to Charles Manson. It’s too much to ask for restraint from a coldblooded killer, of course. But perhaps not too much to ask of a rock star or a record company.