Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-25-2015
Abstract
The Internet has become an expansive virtual world users around the world are exploring, annexing, and defining, just as they always have always done in terra firma, or the natural physical world. With the click of a mouse, anybody has the ability to purchase digital books, movies, and music. People are also using the Internet to communicate with others. We create online accounts, paving digital footprints, trails of data from our Internet usage, and building pseudo-homes within the terrains of the World Wide Web on social media sites. It is undeniable that social media use is booming. According to Pew Internet Project, as of January 2014, 74% of online adults use social networking sites. When Internet users first make accounts on sites like Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter, the process is straightforward. However, there is a complicated quandary that is all too often overlooked but demands attention: how to handle these digital outlets when an account-holder dies.
This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on February 25, 2015. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.
Recommended Citation
Preis, Jessica, "What Happens to a Person’s “Digital Assets” When They Die?: A Legislative Proposal" (2015). AELJ Blog. 63.
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/aelj-blog/63
