Re: right of succession of heirs

On Tue, Mar 16, 1999, Derric Oliver <doliver[_at_]jazz.fantasyjazz.com> wrote:
>
> chain of events (with question to follow):
>
> 1. songwriter dies in 1955, leaving widow and one daughter (under 18).
> 2. copyright registration of song filed posthumously in 1956 (under
> the 1909 US Copyright Act) by music publishing company1.
> 3. music company formally transfers the copyright back to the widow
> in 1963.
> 4. widow then re-assigns song to publishing company2 in 1963.
> 5. in 1994, daughter claims 50% worldwide rights to the copyright of
> the song arguing that her mother couldn't have assigned 100% of
> the copyright to because the mother only owned 50%.
>
> note: both mother and daughter are still alive.
>
> question: is the daughter correct? what is the right of succession of
> heirs to ownership of copyright?
>
> i thought that in the event of the death of the songwriter (prior to
> copyright registration) the widow was first in line. if the widow was
> deceased, then it would fall to any children. is this incorrect?
>
> in the case of a posthumously published work, doesn't the widow (for all
> intensive purposes) become the 'songwriter'?
>
> any insight would be appreciated.

Rights of inheritance vary from state to state. But you question leaves out a critical piece of the puzzle: how did Publisher1 get to register the composition in 1956? If the author assigned the song before death (even if it was registered after death), then daughter probably loses, because Publisher1 adssigned it back to widow, not heirs.

Charles McGarry
<cmcgarry[_at_]ix.netcom.com> Received on Tue Mar 16 1999 - 14:30:45 GMT