No. 39
CITIZENSHIP OF CLAIMANT IN
POSTHUMOUS WORKS
Topic 7.1.3.III of the Compendium states the basic policy with respect to posthumous works, which is to request the citizenship of the deceased author and the citizenship of the copyright claimant. It is our position that the law is unclear whether the citizenship of the deceased author or of the claimant controls in posthumous work cases. 1he Compendium contains no exceptions for cases where the name of the deceased author appears in the notice and registration is made with either "Estate of X" or "Y, executor of the estate of X" given in the claimant line on the application. In this situation, as well as where the estate or the executor is named as the copyright owner in the notice, we should ask for the citizenship of the copyright claimant, if the work is posthumous. This practice applies in all cases except where the work is eligible under the Universal Copyright Convention by virtue of the place of publication.
Please note that we are not taking the position that an "estate" as such necessarily has a citizenship. There are doubts about the propriety of using "Estate of X" in the notice (or at the claimant line of the application) since the estate per se is not usually regarded as a legal entity capable of holding property. Consequently, we should not literally ask for the "citizenship of the Estate of X;" we should ask for the citizenship of the claimant. The true legal holder of the literary property interest (who is presumably represented by the phrase "Estate of X") does have a citizenship, and this is the information needed at line 1. Title to personalty such as copyright usually vests in the personal representative of the deceased author in the case of a will. In case of intestacy the court would usually appoint an administrator (depending upon the size of the estate).
