Canada Considers Disposition of Digital Assets

The Canadian Bar Association recently considered the issueof what happens to a person’s digital assets after they’ve passed.  Most believe that because Canadian lawdoes not currently take digital assets into account, now is the time forlegislation to deal with what will certainly become a growing problem.

When a person buys an album or book online, what they reallyown is the non-transferable license to access the digital copy.  Uniform legislation would give customers somekind of recourse to take companies to court for access to a deceased user’saccount.

The access granted to the loved ones of the deceased alsodiffers depending on the platform.  Whilecompanies like Google will give parents and executors full access, companieslike Twitter will shut down the account entirely.  This long overdue debate could lead to a setof “industry guidelines” to help the grieving navigate the various issues thatarise with a person’s digital legacy.

For more information, please see my article, Estate Planning in the Digital Age.

See Tobi Cohen, Lawyers Raise Questions About Digital DataRights After the Owner’s Death, The Vancouver Sun, Aug. 20, 2013.