Prof. Evans to explore intersection of copyright & probate law at Drake Law IP Roundtable

Headshot of Professor Tonya Evans
Credit: Leaping Lion Photography

Associate Professor Tonya Evans, who teaches Copyright and other intellectual property courses, as well as Wills, Trusts & Estates, and Property at Widener Law School-PA, will present her current work-in-progress at the annual Drake Law IP Roundtable in Des Moines, IA March 27-28th, 2015.

The article explores a nuanced intersection and incongruence between copyright and estate law. Professor Evans assesses the ability of a copyright creator to make, for estate planning or purely business reasons, lifetime transfers of her copyright interests into her trust or entertainment services loan-out corporation, or, perhaps, to a charitable organization as a gift, and identifies an apparently unfettered right of that copyright creator’s Statutory Heirs (as defined in the Copyright Act), who stand to inherit the transfer termination right, to effectively terminate the creator’s transfer and override her testamentary freedom and intent to dispose of copyright assets in some other way.  Continue reading “Prof. Evans to explore intersection of copyright & probate law at Drake Law IP Roundtable”