Q: Re: Intellectual Property My son, who has passed away, was a song writer and has work registered with A.S.C.A.P.
A.S.C.A.P. is a royalties collection and distrabution company who's membership agreement states that if membership is not in good standing for a certain amount of time that ownership of the works registered in A.S.C.A.P.'s Repitoir becomes A.S.C.A.P.'s property and the member forfits all rights to claim. 1) Is this legal 2) As his legal heir am I bound to this agreement 3) Are there any court cases that can be referenced on this subject
A: I'm sorry to hear of your loss. If your son passed without a will, then his estate became the owner of the intellectual property. There may be a probate action that is required to administer his estate, keep the royalties coming in, pay any bills, and then distribute the assets to his heirs. If there is a deadline coming up with the ASCAP, then you can get an emergency hearing with the Probate Court to be appointed as the special administrator of your son's estate to deal with the ASCAP. Call or email an attorney for a full consultation.
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