According to a report from Victor Li of The AM Law Daily, Martha Hart’s case against the WWE alleging that the company featured Owen Hart’s likeness and name without her permission from back in 2010 was thrown out of court on Wednesday by Connecticut federal district court judge Stefan Underhill.

Back in 2010 Martha Hart claimed that Owen’s contract with the WWE had terminated upon his death and as a result, the rights to certain intellectual property, including his name and likeness had reverted to his estate and that she had not received any royalties from the company in regards to the DVD even though it was the WWE’s duty to pay royalties after the termination of the contract. Martha also alleged in the claim that Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon violated Owen Hart’s right of publicity by continuing to exploit his image despite the fact that Martha Hart and the Owen Hart Foundation which she established in 2000 wanted nothing to do with the world of professional wrestling.

Connecticut federal district court judge Stefan Underhill stated that Owen Hart’s contract clearly stated that any intellectual property used by Owen Hart during his WWE career was owned by the companu in perpetuity and that the company retained exclusive rights to that property and while Owen Hart’s legal name could be excluded from that property, his ring name belonged to the company under his contract and that the contract gave the company the right to utlize the videos of Owen’s matches and photos while working for the company.

Underhill however allowed Martha’s claim for unpaid royalties to move forward at another time, meaning that Martha will have to return to court if she’s willing to receive royalties that have been unpaid by the company towards her. Underhill also noted that the usage of several personal photos of Owen Hart in the DVD anthology may have violated Owen’s privacy rights.

Martha Hart is to continue pursuing the case as well as the consideration of the judge’s decision. More is available at this link.