DETROIT, Michigan (AP) – When the Mays Printing Company ran off 10,000 copies of the obituary programmes from Rosa Parks’ funeral, demand for them was high. At US$10 (euro8.33) apiece, they sold out in three days following the November ceremony.

But to Susan McCauley and other relatives of Parks, the sale cheapened the name of the quiet, unassuming woman whose act of defiance 50 years ago on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus changed the course of history.

“We just don’t think our aunt would have wanted it this way,” said McCauley, who grew up near Parks in Detroit and now lives in suburban Atlanta.

McCauley is one of 13 nieces and nephews who have asked a judge to throw out Parks’ will and place a nephew, William McCauley, in charge of her estate.

For years they have feuded with the people Parks appointed to handle her affairs, longtime friend Elaine Steele and retired Detroit Judge Adam Shakoor.

Parks had no children and her husband died before her.

But her modest estate isn’t the real issue. It’s control of the legal rights to use Parks’ name, photos and other yet-to-be-determined intellectual property that rises from her stature as an American civil rights icon.

“Of course there is no intent to exploit any aspect of this person, this great American citizen who we loved and respected,” said Shakoor, a retired chief judge of Detroit’s 36th District Court.

At a probate court hearing in Detroit this week, both sides agreed to jointly administer the estate for 90 days while they negotiate and exchange information.

William McCauley and Shakoor will share the responsibility. If they do not settle within 90 days, the family can file a motion to challenge the will.

Shortly before Parks’ funeral, the Mays company printed up the first run of programmes for the 4,000 people expected to attend.

The seven-hour ceremony was held nine days after her October 24th death at the age of 92.

After the funeral, copies appeared on the eBay auction site for US$150 (euro125) or US$200 (euro166), said Gregory J Reed, who until recently was Parks’ attorney. To take the profit out of selling them, Steele and Shakoor decided to print a second run, Reed said.

The proceeds just covered costs, plus a small profit that went to the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, a Detroit-based organisation founded by Parks to teach young people leadership and character development, Reed said.

“It was not a commercial piece. It was an in-kind for people who wanted a piece of history. They want a part of Mrs. Parks,” said James Mays, owner of the printing company.

But Parks’ relatives, all sons and daughters of Parks’ brother, Sylvester, don’t agree. They say it’s one more example of how Steele and Shakoor have misused their aunt’s name since she gave them control of her affairs, about the same time she began suffering from dementia.

“Once our aunt could not speak for herself, there were a lot of things done in her name we think she would have been ashamed of,” said Susan McCauley.

Relatives have complained about Parks’ representatives suing the hip-hop duo OutKast and its record company for US$5 billion (euro4.17 billion) over use of her name in a song.

Parks, they said, would never have sued for such an outlandish sum. They also do not think she was well cared for over the years, at times going for want of rent money or cash for medication, said McCauley.

Steele would not comment, but Shakoor said they sued OutKast because the song’s lyrics are derisive to women, something that Parks would never allow in her presence.

The song disturbed Parks, Reed said. The lawsuit eventually was settled out of court, with the money used to care for Parks, he said.

Both Reed and Shakoor disagreed with McCauley about Parks’ care. “Mrs Parks was super-well cared for, and anyone who saw her would admit that without hesitancy,” Shakoor said.

In 1998, Parks placed her belongings into a trust that will keep most of her estate out of probate court, said Jon Gandelot, the attorney who represents Shakoor and Steele.

Gandelot said he cannot reveal who controls the trust or what is in it, nor could he say if the trustee controls the future rights to Parks’ name and likeness.

If the relatives manage to gain control of Parks’ image, they likely would use it in a very limited way to benefit nonprofit organisations such as a library or arts centre in her honour, said Susan McCauley.

“I haven’t heard of any family member that’s stepped forward trying to sell T-shirts or obituaries or anything,” she said. “I know that’s not in my heart.”