1300-19
1315
Renewal claimants: executors. (cont'd)
1315.02
Personal right. (cont'd)
3)
A renewal claim cannot be registered in the name of the "Estate of John Doe," even if executors have not yet been qualified under the author's will.
4)
The executor named in the renewal application must be an individual or be a fiduciary organization authorized by law to serve as an executor. A renewal application which does not name as executor an individual or a trust department of a bank will be questioned.
Example:
The renewal application which names a law firm as the renewal claimant in the capacity of executor under the author's will will be questioned because it is unclear whether the law firm is a fiduciary organization authorized by law to serve as executor.
1315.03
Intestate. In no case can the administrator of an intestate author's estate claim renewal.
1316
Renewal claimants: next of kin. If the author is dead and no widow (widower) or children survive the author, and if there is "the absence of a will," the author's next of kin are entitled to claim renewal. 17 U.S.C. 304(a).
1316.01
Definition. The term "next of kin" refers only to blood relatives of the author.
1)
It is not clear whether the term "next of kin" refers only to the living relatives of the nearest degree of consanguinity (defined as the quality or state of being descended from the same ancestor) or whether it also includes the descendants of dead relatives claiming on the theory representation. The Copyright Office
[1984]
