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Full-Text Articles in Law
Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, And The Power Of Testation, Joshua C. Tate
Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, And The Power Of Testation, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Publicity rights, or the rights to the use of one’s image and likeness, are a relatively recent form of property. Several states now recognize rights of publicity as survivable, meaning that the heirs of deceased celebrities can inherit those rights. Because U.S. law has traditionally granted each individual the power of testation, a celebrity can also freely devise the rights to persons of her choosing. Nevertheless, some scholars have recently envisioned the adoption of hypothetical state statutes under which publicity rights would pass automatically to specified statutory heirs regardless of the celebrity’s wishes. Destroying the power of testation, these scholars …
Caregiving And The Case For Testamentary Freedom, Joshua C. Tate
Caregiving And The Case For Testamentary Freedom, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Almost all U.S. states allow individuals to disinherit their descendants for any reason or no reason, but most of the world's legal systems currently do not. This Article contends that broad freedom of testation is defensible because it allows elderly people to reward family members who are caregivers. The Article explores the common-law origins of freedom of testation, which developed in the shadow of the medieval rule of primogeniture, a doctrine of no contemporary relevance. The growing problem of eldercare, however, offers a justification for the twenty-first century. Increases in life expectancy have led to a sharp rise in the …