Avidly Managing and Protecting Literary Estates

A recent Financial Times article about literary estate management focuses on the trend in managing copyrighted works of deceased writers with avid promotion and protection. Some estates have taken immense measures to ensure the integrity and prosperity of their intellectual property, such as the estates of Ronald Dahl, JRR Tolkien, and Ian Flemming.  The article also refers to Stephen Joyce, the sole heir of Irish writer James Joyce, as “something of a literary villain”  whose battles are in the courtroom with those who attempt to use Joyce’s copyrighted works.  See Rachel Keeler, Literary life after death, Financial Times, March 26, 2009.  

The article prompted a response from the firm representing the Joyce estate, which the Financial Times also published.  The response states, in part:

While the observation that Stephen James Joyce is vilified by a vociferous portion of the academic community is correct, reference to “a series of court battles” leaves the erroneous impression that the estate actively seeks out litigation to limit access to Joyce’s works. Nothing could be further from the truth. . . .

Those familiar with Joyce’s own attitude to academic literary studies will recognise that the estate does no more than endeavour – in the face of continuous pressure – to maintain the author’s privacy and defend, protect and preserve the integrity, spirit and letter of his writings. Surely this less deserves vilification than does seeking to enhance one’s academic prestige by trading on Joyce’s name and literary stature.

See Lorna Brazell, Feast on Joyce’s fiction rather than his family, Financial Times, May 23, 2009. 

The Lesson: Protecting a literary estate can be a very serious and demanding responsibility.    

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing these articles to my attention.