Ask to use Alice's likeness in my product, get declined.
Ask again.
Debut product, users say "this sounds a lot like Alice".
The day my product releases, I make a public statement referencing a movie Alice starred in.
When Alice asks how I made my product, I delete all access to the product.
How else am I supposed to interpret this?
"better safe than sorry"
- any legal team, ever, in the history of the universe
Have you met any corporate lawyers? Its all about CYA