What happens when a PA passes away?
JCThomas
Posts: 254
in The Commons
I've just caught up on the sad news of Dragon Storm's and Dimension3D's passing. They were both valuable members of the community, and I came to rely heavily on many of their tools. Sincere condolences to their families.
I've noticed that their products are still for sale. Will a deceased PA's royalties transfer to a relative as indicated by his or her will, or does DAZ essentially own these items outright now?
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next of kin I imagine unless was bought out as a DAZ original
DAZ is just the broker otherwise
DAZ will work with the family to consider what is best for them...there is no single clear cut process
Indeed; being an international brokerage means that there is no single set of laws that would best handle this.
When a PA dies they get infused into the store and their body is split among all their catalog products. And if you buy one of them you slowly bring them back to life:) But in all seriousness, Daz contacts the next of kin and sets it up that the revenue gets handed over to them.
And different people have different wishes for their products/families. So far, all the vendors that have passed both here and at that other brokerage the last couple years have their stores still up for their families.
No well-performed contract would allow precarious intepretation by jurisdiction. A key component of any properly written contract is to specify the jurisdiction, usually the payor's country and/or state. If the signer's country or other jurisdiction does not allow this term, that's their problem, but it doesn't nullify the contract. That said, there's no reason a publisher wouldn't still pay the copyright holder's estate, and very likely, this spelled out (heirs, assigns, etc clause, which is de rigueur in all contracts involving IP). Speaking only theoreticallty, of course, and not about any specific agreement between Daz and its vendors. I am quite concertain Daz's contract is well written and covers all the necessary parts.
I suspect there's no easy answer for that one.
The easy answer, is that the Estate will get dealt with (once passed through probate in UK) as their Will decreed; if there is no Will, then the Next-of-Kin will be located/sought and will be divided accordingly, or the State will inherit if no kin and no Will specifying beneficiaries. The third option, applies to the UK, but other countries might have similar. (May not actually apply to all of UK, as Scotland sometimes has slightly different to very different laws.)
... The devil, however, is in the details. :)
That's smart. And in that way, your work can live on for new people to find and enjoy long after you're gone. As an artist, that thought is a little bit comforting to me. Plus having your sales go toward our loved one(s) can be a help to them, I'm sure.
That's good to know that a PA's wishes regarding their IP are followed. Don't know why I'd assumed it would be different than any other IP. Glad to know no one is getting taken advantage of.
In the US this is by state, though they're all fairly similar. The estate is considered unclaimed, and after a period of time (e.g. three years), the value is forfeited to the state.
In the case of work created with others, a separate agreement between the parties could specify what happens to the royalties. Copyright, and the payments of royalties, can be assigned wholly outside of the author's estate. One method would be a rider to the main agreement that directs the publisher to split the proceeds among the surviving members. I have not seen Daz's agreement, but it's not uncommon in book publishing for there to be an optional section providing for the payout split (it's not always equal), including the eventuality of the death of one of the authors.
Probably the worst-case scenario is multiple authors, but the agreement is only with a single principle author. If that author dies, and lacking any other legal document otherwise, the other authors might end up with their royalties snatched away, by heirs, probate, or the state. Obviously this is something IP creators want to avoid.
The above not legal advice.
Although I'm not a PA, I intend to haunt all my freebies when I die.
Nothing too traumatic, just basic poltergeist stuff and maybe a little ectoplasm leaking out of the USB ports.
Maybe possessed talking pets too... if I can swing that.
I do hope you can manage the talking pets -- it would be great to have your posts continue after you die.
That reqires a possessed keyboard, or a possessed monkey sacked from the Shakespeare Project
I think we should 3D scan people from now on starting with McGyver
to immortalise them
Ah yse the Infinite number of Munkey and Typewriters will produce all the great works of William.... if William actually wrote them, which some doubt.
Or your name has to be "L. Ron Hubbard".
You could setup a Automation Script, to pump out New Topics, into the forums. That would freak people out.
Isn't this something subject to inheritance law? The PA specifies it in a will, or probate court decides? That's how it works for authors.