Have you been wanting to learn more about how musicians plan their estates? When you’re a famous musician, it’s a wise idea to protect your music while you’re still alive and healthy. After a musician dies, their music still stays alive. Having an attorney who specializes in music estates is incredibly helpful for artists who want to protect their music for future generations.
Involves More Than an Average Estate
When the average person is considering planning their own estate, it involves items like houses, bank accounts, and automobiles. A business owner may have a slightly more complicated estate than someone who didn’t own a business because they’ll need to add the company to the estate. A musician, however, has to not only plan for the distribution of their physical tangible property but also has to decide who will carry the rights to their music after they are no longer living. They need an experienced attorney who is familiar with musician estate law to help them figure the ins and outs of planning their estate.
Requires Copyrights To Be Renewed
When a musician secures copyright for his or her music, oftentimes it is created for a set amount of time. After this duration finally expires, the copyright must be renewed, or else the rights to the music are lost. Copyrights last for a certain amount of years, and this can easily extend past the natural life of the artist. Music professionals need to determine who will retain the copyright after they die. This individual is then responsible for renewing the rights when they eventually expire.
Protects the Music Against Unwanted Distribution
Without an estate plan in place, the musician could lose the rights to their intellectual property after they die. If copyright expires on a piece of music, it then enters the public domain. This means that anybody can reproduce and distribute the music without legally needing any permission at all. By appointing someone as executor of a musician’s estate, the artist can ensure that their music stays out of the public domain and remains protected.
Famous musicians need to consider what will happen to their life’s work once they are no longer here. Legal professionals help artists sort out the red tape and fine print involved in drawing up estate documents. When a person works so hard their whole lives to create music, they must preserve the art they made.
Comments are closed.