Ghostwriters in the Sky

There is a growing trend for authors and/or their estates to control the characters they have created from beyond the grave making “literary estates some of the most powerful in the media.”  For example, Robert Ludlum left outlines for over a dozen books to be prepared after his death, many of which have already appears since his demise in 2001. 

The following excerpts are from Danuta Kean, Posthumous publishers who refuse to live and let die, Financial Times, Aug. 16, 2007:

Because copyright comes to an end – 70 years after an author’s death in Europe, sooner in the US – literary estates have turned to trademark registration for an extra layer of protection. Characters, book titles and authors’ names have all been registered.

For dead authors who are still in copyright, trademarking may help estates keep control after the term ends, says intellectual property lawyer Laurence Kaye. “If you intend to republish a book that has gone out of copyright, you would have to do it in a way that did not infringe any trademarks.”

[Ian Fleming Publications] has registered everything from Ian Fleming to James Bond and Miss Moneypenny, so any attempt to reproduce the books without permission after they go out of copyright would meet difficulties.

Special thanks to Prof. Joel C. Dobris of the University of California-Davis for bringing this article to my attention.