NPR had a fascinating segment on the challenge of on-line identities when the originator dies. Who owns your Facebook page, your LinkedIn profile, your Google mail account, your Twitter feed, your Flickr photos, your YouTube videos, and all the other remnants of your virtual life when your actual life has ended?
I’m honestly not sure where the connection is here to arts and cultural management. But since so much creative work is about legacy, memory, memorial, and identity, this feels like fertile ground for exploration.
That really is a fascinating issue, Andrew — thanks for sharing. The copyrightable material has an easy answer: copyright passes to one’s heirs along with your other property. But the passwords/online contract rights/account information: good question! The answer likely lies in well-drafted contracts as well as estate planning documents.
I’m going to auction my post-mortem online self on eBay.