Estate Planning

A Writer's Will

By Hull and Hull LLP

Wills deal with the distribution of property after one has died and so a fundamental task of the Wills lawyer is to ascertain all the property owned by his client. J. D. Salinger (who died one year ago today) knew very well that his stories were his property. In a recent article in The Economist , he is reported as having expressed his outrage that a collection of his short stories were published without his authorization this way:  

'Some stories, my property, have been stolen…someone's appropriated them. It's an illicit act. It's unfair. Suppose you had a coat you liked and somebody went into your closet and stole it. That's how I feel.'

In a related article, another journalist explains that Salinger was so protective of his property rights in his writing that in his old age he brought a lawsuit against Mr. Colting, author of a 'sequel' to Salinger's famous work, Catcher in the Rye. The case has settled a year after Salinger's death, but it was his representatives that fought the remainder of the battle for property rights on behalf of his estate.

For Wills lawyers, this story highlights the importance of obtaining instructions that deal with all types of property a deceased may leave behind on her death. It may be that lawyers drafting wills for writers or other artists should consult specialized intellectual property counsel. This is especially recommended where the likelihood of dispute among surviving family members is high or where the stakes make litigation more tempting. In this way, difficult valuation issues and distribution decisions may be better understood and family turmoil on the death of an artist may be reduced.

On a final note, the Toronto Star recently reported that the mysterious annual visitor to the grave of Edgar Allen Poe may too have died and so no longer will red roses and cognac be delivered to the memory of the great author by this secret soul.   If only he had set up a trust.

Thanks for reading.

Julia Evans

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on January 27, 2011 (boomark / email).