Legal Question in Business Law in Rhode Island
Business Agreement
My father, recently deceased, had a contract with a client to collaborate on a book together. My father was to do the writing, the client would have overall control of content. The contract was canceled 1 month before my father passed away, the client wanted to go in another direction with possibly another writer. I have all documents and letters between the two, and 1st 4 chapters in my posession. Can I write this on my own? Can I sell the rights to another writer? What are my options?
-Patrick
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Business Agreement
It depends on the provisions of the contract.
Please contact a good intellectual property attorney and have him review the contract.
Re: Business Agreement
Even if your father were still alive it is unlikely that he could continue the project on his own. Your description sounds like what is called a "work for hire", and the copyright in such a work belongs to the client rather than to the writer. If I had more details I might reach a different conclusion, but this is what I get from the facts you have provided.
Even if your father had the right to continue with the project, it does not necessarily follow that the right to do so passed to you when he died. Intellectual property is like other property when the owner dies -- it is distributed as provided in the deceased's will or, if there was no valid will, according to the rules of intestacy in the local jurisdiction. The fact that you are his son does not automatically entitle you to any particular items he owned, including this bit of intellectual property.
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