Think you own your digital movies, music & books? The fine print may surprise you
May 17, 2018, 5:10 PM | Updated: Feb 7, 2023, 11:20 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Americans bought over $1.2 billion dollars’ worth of digital music from stores like iTunes and Amazon last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
But what happens to all those tunes, movies or e-books when we die?
When you buy a physical book, music C-D, or a Blu-Ray movie, it’s yours to do with as you wish – you can sell it or pass it on to someone when you, well, pass on.
But that’s not the case with digital entertainment. And it’s all in the fine print.
Attorney Jason Hunter specializes in estate planning. He says when you download a book, a movie or music, you’re not buying the actual file. Instead, you’re buying the right to listen, watch or read that file for as long as you live.
“A lot those agreements will just say they’re non-transferable assets,” he said.
“You can’t subsequently lease, or sell, or assign any of your rights in these assets,” explained Hunter.
Hunter says what happens to the digital content you’ve bought is determined by the terms-of-service agreements.
We checked three of the biggest providers: iTunes, Amazon, and Google. They don’t mention death specifically, but all three say their content is non-transferable.
“A lot of those assets may be lost,” said estate planning attorney Geoff Germane.
And be careful about sharing your passwords with your heirs.
“Check the terms-of-service agreement and see if the custodian (Google, Amazon, iTunes, etc.) even authorizes it,” explained Germane. “But, can a fiduciary (heir or executor) keep your account open? Probably, not, because the continued access through someone else’s username is probably not authorized.”
Until those terms-of-service agreements change to allow you to assign your digital downloads to an heir, consider using streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and Netflix, among others.
Each costs about $10 to $15 a month. You still won’t own the content but at least hundreds if not thousands of dollars’ worth of digital files won’t go, when you go.
