The untimely death of Michael Jackson yesterday sent a ripple through the world. With his passing, Michael Jackson left not only an artistic legacy for his fans but also a legal battle for his heirs. Today I’d like to discuss the succession of copyright.
In one sentence, copyright is a “right” distinctive and separate from the actual work where the right subsists.
When the well-known writer Charles Dickens passed away nearly a century and half ago, he left manuscripts all his “private papers whatsoever and wheresoever” to his sister-in-law. Upon her death, a previously unpublished manuscript “Life of Christ” was given to Dickens’ daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law sought to publish the manuscript, but the holder of the copyright for Dickens’ works objected and sued.
Ruling on the case, the British Court of Appeal held that copyright is “an incorporeal right of property giving to the author the fullest rights not only of exclusion, but also of actual enjoyment.“*
In other words, the copyright does not pass with the physical transfer of the manuscript. Rather, the copyright is passed through assignment under contracts or through succession law. The owner of the unpublished manuscript, Dickens’ daughter-in-law, therefore did not have the right to publish.
To draw an analogy from Charles Dickens’ works and the incorporeal copyright subsisted, the copyright of Michael Jackson’s songs will belong to assignees (if it’s already assigned) or the heirs under the will, and not the holder of the master recordings.
May he rest in peace.
* In Re Dickens [1935] 1 Ch 267 (U.K.C.A.)
