Keywords: copyright inheritance, intellectual property, copyright succession, winning case examples

Shenzhen has a thriving cultural industry, and many authors, screenwriters, designers, and musicians leave behind a large body of work upon their death. Can the children inherit the copyrights in these works? If a book is still in print or a song is still being played, to whom do royalties and copyright income belong after the author's death?

According to Article 21 of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, where copyright belongs to a natural person, upon that person's death the rights prescribed in items (5) through (17) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law shall, within the term of protection stipulated in this Law, pass in accordance with the law. In other words, the property-type rights within copyright—including the right of publication, the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, the right of communication through information networks, and the right of adaptation—may be inherited by the heirs in accordance with the law. However, the personal-type rights, such as the right of attribution, the right of modification, and the right to protect the integrity of the work, cannot be inherited and shall be protected by the author's heirs or legatees.

The term of protection must be kept in mind. Under Article 23 of the Copyright Law, for works of a natural person, the term of protection for the right of publication and the property-type rights is the author's lifetime plus fifty years after death, expiring on December 31 of the fiftieth year after the author's death. During those fifty years, income generated from publication, adaptation, broadcast, or licensing of the work belongs to the heirs. In one copyright inheritance case handled by our firm, the decedent was a well-known screenwriter whose works continued to generate film and television adaptation royalties after death; multiple heirs disputed how the copyright proceeds should be distributed. By mapping out copyright ownership, agency contracts, and year-by-year revenue records, we ultimately helped the heirs confirm the respective copyright shares each was entitled to.

It should be noted that copyright inheritance differs from ordinary property: it involves a complex bundle of rights and long-term revenue streams. We recommend that creators specify through a will the ownership and manner of exercise of the copyright property rights in their works, and, where necessary, establish a copyright trust. In summary, the property rights embedded in copyright may be inherited in accordance with the law, and income generated within fifty years after the author's death belongs to the heirs. We recommend consulting as early as possible with a lawyer experienced in intellectual-property inheritance to properly inventory the works and arrange the rights.