

Ask HN: What happens to my legal digital media when I die? - DanBC

I've bought ebooks from Amazon.  I've bought MP3 files from various places.  I've bought videos from various places.<p>With CDs and DVDs and Bluray and dead-tree books I can just leave those to people in my will.<p>But what about the e-versions?  Can I transfer the licence to someone else? Or does all that stuff effectively die with me?
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dangrossman
Your content dies with you. Read the terms of sale at your favorite
MP3/movie/book store -- you're granted a non-transferrable license for
personal use of the files. That means you cannot transfer that license to your
relatives.

@pwg: Whether the media has DRM or not just determines how easy it is to make
copies, not whether you have legal permission to make copies.

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johnrgrace
It goes away as you do, this all flows from when you liscensed the content
instead of purchasing it.

Of course the startup I'm working on is to address this very issue, which is a
legal/contract hack.

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pwg
1) Buy only DRM free copies of electronic media; in this way your freedom to
do what you wish with your electronic copy is not restricted;

2) Maintain your own data on physical storage media controlled only by you;
this means your freedom to access your data is not restricted;

You can now transfer your data to your heirs when you die by transferring them
the physical media, in the identical fashion with which you would transfer the
physical CDs/DVDs/Blurays.

Doing anything else leaves your freedoms at the mercy of a corporation, and
their interests will never align with your desires to exercise your freedoms.

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itswitch
You could give someone you're password (in your will) and hope that they
update the credit card info. Otherwise, the account would most likely be
closed due to inactivity.

I do not know any company's policy on accounts that are too old.

