Which is why if you are a creator, no matter what medium is your chosen form, you should make specific provisions for what happens to your intellectual property once you have gone gently into that night which is alleged to be good.
In the wake of the passing of his friend John M. Ford, Gaiman tapped a lawyer friend of his to create a template will that also covers your creative estate after death. An excerpt from Gaiman's post:
He's not the first writer I know who didn't think to take care of his or her posthumous intellectual property. For example, I knew a writer -- a great writer -- separated from and estranged from his wife during the last five years of his life. He died without making a will, and his partner, who understood and respected his writing, was shut out, while his wife got the intellectual property, and has not, I think, treated it as it should have been treated. These things happen, and they happen too often.
There are writers who blithely explain to the world that they didn't make a will because they don't mind who gets their jeans and old guitar when they die but who would have conniptions if they realised how much aggravation their books or articles or poems or songs would cause their loved ones (or editors, anthologists or fans) after their death...
Clicky above. Read the whole post. Download the downloadable bit. Act. We don't think about these things, but as the man said, we should.
Because the internet(s) are vast and wide and not everyone spends their lives exploring its tubes, if you have a creator friend/loved one in your life who will probably never stumble across this FREE template created by an actual lawyer, send them an email to Gaiman's post alerting them. Or call them and read the important bits to them. Or print out the template, write a cover letter, and mail it to them.
And if they respond along the lines of 'nobody cares about my stuff,' remind them of the words of one of the Great Ones: Nobody Knows Anything. It's no secret that sometimes creators suddenly become valuable once they're dead, irregardless of their profile during life. Whomever is left grieving does not need to deal with that morass. A little consideration now will make that person's life easier down the road. This is a kindness you are in a position to provide while alive.
I think the only difficult part in the template is trying to figure out who should be given control over your creative estate. It's a lot of responsibility, and in some ways, a significant burden. Lots of trust involved. Lots of responsibilities handed over. This person would have to be someone who knows you well enough to know what you would want. Common sense warns that a true heart conversation or two would have to be held with the person you identify BEFORE you fill out their name on a legal document of this type. Just putting that out there. The devil is in the details, after all.
