Artists Can Bequeath Their Digital Assets To The Next Generation

• Artists bequeath their digital assets to loved ones and the next generation.
• The Copyright Act and Intellectual property laws allow this for creators and artists.
• Innovation and creation have a valuation that can add to a person’s net worth and estate.

Artists have the privilege of feeding and caring for their loved ones and the next generation even after their deaths because of the creation of intangible assets in the form of their work that will hold value for 50 years after their deaths. However, in some cases, the value will stay forever. 

What are Digital Assets?

Digital assets are forms of data and content that are stored digitally and have some value. The digital currency that is held by somebody is a digital asset. However, other things, including real estate in the metaverse, e-currency, digital cash, etc., fall under the category of digital assets. 

 

Artists have intangible assets, which are considered digital assets. For example, compositions, music, songs, videos, drawings, poetry, literature, photography, arts, paintings, novel software, computer programs, etc. Anything that is innovated or created by somebody is an asset that has been owned by that person only because of the Copyright Act. 

How Do Artists Bequeath Their Digital Assets?

Creatives possess intangible assets, which are categorized as property under intellectual property laws. They can plan their estates and ensure that their loved ones are well taken care of even after death or incapacitation. Nobody can license, sell, reproduce, or deal with the original works of artists. They prepare a will that nominates beneficiaries. These include people or institutions that will benefit from the work after their deaths. For example, they can bequeath fees and royalties earned from their works to their children. 

A will is very important, as it has guidelines on how income is earned from the work even after death. A trust fund can also be mentioned in the guidelines, which will appoint trustees to manage the work on behalf of the loved ones. Initially, the valuation of an innovation was one of the major issues for consideration. 

There were two broad methods for considering the valuation of innovations. First, using the cost-based approach, the cost spent (for example, the purchase cost of the software or man hours spent) on the innovation was considered and second, future earnings from the innovation were considered. 

Many digital platforms that host digital assets have their own monetization methods, such as advertisements, posts, etc. on the platform, like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. These assets are further transferred to the next generation by adding them to the will, which increases the estate value and personal net worth. 

Conclusion

Digital assets such as digital currency, e-cash, etc. are important these days because of their high valuation and hence there should be a law that deals with their rights after the death of the holder. In the case of artists, innovations and creations hold value and benefit their loved ones even after their deaths. 

According to the Copyright Act, the digital assets (intangible assets such as songs, videos, music, art, photography, paintings, computer programs, software, etc.) of artists can be sold, licensed, reproduced and benefited from until after 50 years of the artist’s death. In some cases, these benefits are handled by trust funds, which give them to the artist’s family.