Lee-ford Tritt
92 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 753
Great musicians are larger than life, and the most iconic of them become members of an elite musical monarchy: Michael Jackson was the King of Pop, Aretha Franklin was the Queen of Soul, and Prince Rogers Nelson was Prince. Similarly, James Brown, the inventor of funk music, landed a seat at this table of legendary musicians. Although lacking a royal honorific, James Brown was “the Godfather of Soul.” The Godfather of Soul, though, shared more than musical prowess with these other iconic musicians. The estates of James Brown, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Prince all continue to face legal obstacles—years after their deaths—many of which revolve around the artists’ copyright interests.
In many artists’ estates, a problem arises in that copyright law effectively prevents artists from disposing of their copyright interests through common estate planning techniques and, often times, undermines artists’ testamentary plans—a phenomenon I have termed “estate-bumping.” This disturbing phenomenon has driven an unintended wedge between copyright law and estates law. In effect, estate-bumping enables unintended beneficiaries to rewrite, or “bump,” the estate plans of artists like James Brown. Considering the recent trend in musicians selling their musical catalogs—such as Justin Bieber, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen—the copyright issues that plagued the James Brown Estate will not be the outlier but more likely the norm.
Accordingly, this Article uses the James Brown Estate as a lens to explore the concept of estate-bumping and other pertinent issues regarding the estates of copyright creators. As this Article reveals, and the curious case of the James Brown Estate demonstrates, the effects of estate-bumping can be deleterious. Accordingly, by drawing on both estates law and copyright law, this Article addresses real world issues concerning estate planning for artists and suggests recommendations for best practices until the copyright law is amended to eliminate the problem of estate-bumping.
