What Happens to Your Publishing Rights After You Pass Away

In this blog post, you’ll learn what happens with your book publishing rights after you pass away.

Even the most memorable authors of this world’s history will face the inevitable in the form of death.

Shakespeare called it the Undiscovered Country in Hamlet.

While their memories and contribution to society will forever linger, their presence in the physical world will come to an end.

You want to live long enough to reap the fruits of your labour.

With all those years spent in writing and isolation, you are hopeful that all the sacrifices are worth it.

But what if you meet your end at the most inconvenient time?

There is no predicting how and when we leave this world, but for an author like you who has a lot to prove, there are so many lingering questions.

An author of a published book will ultimately leave a legacy behind.

For the most part, that legacy comes in the form of monetary rewards from the book that the author wrote.

You probably think that if your book is making money through publishing rights, your family will get the cash when you die.

The truth is that the process is not necessarily a walk in the park.

What Happens To Your Publishing Rights?

What happens to your publishing rights when you die is reliant upon the agreement and contract you signed with your publisher.

Let me share a story about the experience of a widow of an author, who happened to be a close friend. When the author died, the checks born out of his royalties were sent to his estate.

The problem was that the money would not be cleared for several months.

It worked that way because of the previous contractual agreement between the author and his publisher.

So, there was no way that his wife and kids could get the money as soon as possible.

Since there was a signed agreement, the publisher had no choice but to keep it that way.

I learned some important things because of that story.

As an author, you have the right to your work.

While you are alive, you should draft a contract that will remain favourable to you and your family even when you die.

For instance, you can stipulate that the publishing company will assign the contractual control and royalties of your book to a person of your choice.

Doing so will prevent alienation of rights for your loved ones.

Of course, when you no longer are in this world, you reserve the right to designate a person to retain your rights to your book.

There are countless instances in which the siblings and even distant family members of a deceased author tried to compel the publisher or business partner to send the royalties their way instead of the author’s designated person.

This is where the power of the contract with the author’s stipulations will come into play.

If the one claiming the rights to the royalties does not have his or her name in the agreement, then there is no way that he or she can be a recipient of that royalty.

Conflict among family members regarding the dead author’s publishing rights is not new or surprising, considering the money involved.

I know of another story of the legal executor’s insistence on terminating the deceased author’s contract.

As the executor of the author’s estates, he wanted the book to go out of print.

Although the author did not have a family, it was later revealed that he authorized someone to be his literary executor.

In this case, the legal executor of the author’s estate does not have the right to decide on the book’s rights since there was an assigned literary executor.

What Happens When You Die?

I have no idea… You should go ask a religious leader that question.

Alright… sorry I couldn’t resist.

However, if you are an author and you want to know about your book rights then I can enlighten you.

I must admit that there are a lot of complexities when the author of a book suddenly dies.

So, I insist that every aspiring author out there must look out for their welfare (and their family) when publishing a book in the future. Doing so is not that hard.

First, you must furnish a legal document to your publisher which contains the specifics on who will get control of your book, including publishing rights, literary contracts, and royalties in case you die.

You can ask for your lawyer’s help to come up with this legal document.

Be sure to inform your family about your plans.

The purpose of letting them know of your wishes in advance is to prevent the likelihood of conflict over the royalties and money.

A lot of authors are under the pretense that their family will not fight over your assets, including the royalties from your book, when you leave this world.

There is nothing wrong in insisting that you want your book to stay in print even when after you die.

But it would help if you let all the people concerned know about it.

Do it in writing.

There always will be that one family member who you think will take advantage of the person you designate to decide on your book and publishing rights.

You can always talk to your lawyer and publisher about these possibilities.

Copyright Continues After Death

In the United States, as a general rule, for books written after January 1st 1978, the copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.

For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a ghostwritten book, the copyright ensures the term of 95 years from the year of publication.

For books published before 1978, the term length depends on a variety of factors.

The best thing to do is look at an example.

Dr. Seuss is probably the most popular children’s author of all time. (Sorry JK Rowling!)

So it would make sense that Hollywood would like to make some of his books into films, authors would like to reimagine some of his most famous works, and merchandise companies would like to print t-shirts.

But Dr. Seuss, who died in 1991, is still protected under law at least until 2053, depending on which property you look at.

Why?

The copyright term for works published between 1950 and 1963 was extended to 95 years from the date of publication, so long as the works were published with a copyright notice and the term renewed (which is generally the case with famous works such as those we are highlighting).

However, many works published between that time period are already in the public domain because the copyright holder did not comply with notice, renewal, or other copyright formalities.

But tracking down this information can be difficult.

And to make some things more complicated, sometimes the court retroactively extends the copyright law to up to 95 years after publication.

In Great Britain, copyright law is a bit less complicated.

Copyright lasts for 70 years after an author’s death.

For example, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,  died in 1930, and so copyright on Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most beloved detective, expired in 2000 in the UK.

This is why you’ve seen an influx of Sherlock Holmes books and television shows.

Other famous characters in the public domain include:

• The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum (Dorothy, The Cowardly Lion, The Wizard)
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer)
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Ebeneezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim)
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (Wendy, Tinker Bell, Peter Pan)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (Quasimodo)
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevnson (Dr. Henry Jekyll, Deward Hyde)
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (The Red Queen, Alice, The March Hare, The Mad Hatter)
• Robin Hood by unknown (Friar Tuck, Little John, Sherif, King)
• Count Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (Frankenstein’s Monster)
• Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (King Arthur)

Conclusion

Unfortunately, death is inevitable. No matter how accomplished you will be, there always is an end to everything.

The good thing is that you can plan it.

The goal is to protect your book and the corresponding rights to it.

Be sure that your heirs get what they deserve when you are gone.

To do that, it’s recommended that you write what you want to be done with your books into your will.

It won’t extend the copyright protection given to your creative works under law, but it will help your heirs enjoy the royalties.

Further Reading:

When Authors Die. What Happens To Their Books?

What Happens When A Writer Dies?

What Happens To Your Copywright After You Die?