While an Oscar statuette is priceless to a winner, its legal value is exactly $1. Since 1951, the Academy has required all winners to sign an agreement stating that neither they nor their heirs will sell the trophy without first offering to sell it back to the Academy for one dollar. This rule was created to prevent the 'commercialization' of the award and to ensure the trophies don't end up on eBay or in private pawn shops. If a winner refuses to sign, the Academy keeps the statuette. Despite this, some 'pre-1951' Oscars occasionally appear at auctions; Michael Jackson famously bought David O. Selznick’s 1939 Best Picture Oscar for 'Gone With the Wind' for $1.5 million in 1999.