A Portrait of the Artist’s Heirs in Mediation: ADR Techniques to Prevent and Resolve Disputes Following an Author’s Death

Authors

Nicholas Beudert, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

If an author's work is powerful enough, or popular enough, it's likely that at some point someone will want to write about her. For scholars embarking upon these projects, the author's body of published work can provide insight into her psyche, but correspondence and other unpublished materials can also be valuable. Copyright law covers all of these materials, and when the author dies, she can bequest her copyright as she would the rest of her estate (if she hasn't transferred it during her lifetime). The recipient of these copyrights may now treat the copyrights as her own, as though she produced the copyright-protected work herself. In addition to granting publishing rights in the copyrighted material to publishers (to print and sell copies of the works), these new copyright holders (be it the author during her lifetime or the author's heirs) field requests from different types of people for permission to use the copyrighted work.

Keywords

Copyright, Intellectual Property Law, Libraries, Education Law

Disciplines

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Education Law | Intellectual Property Law | Law

Recommended Citation

Nicholas Beudert, A Portrait of the Artist’s Heirs in Mediation: ADR Techniques to Prevent and Resolve Disputes Following an Author’s Death, 24 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 629 (2023).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol24/iss3/9