HTML
pdf english
FLIP
XML
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Abstract
We are moving toward a technologically driven world where the traditional way of looking at assets merely from a physical perspective is slowing evolving to include digital assets. With our extreme indulgence in internet activities, we end up creating a heap of digital assets without realizing the risk associated with its privacy and ownership after death. We share our personal pictures, videos, thoughts, and beliefs through daily posts on social media platforms. All these files are a type of digital assets with social and emotional value, but neither the law nor the social media platforms take strong steps for preserving them and ensuring their inheritance after the user’s death. There is no universally accepted definition of digital assets and hence the concept of digital asset inheritance is in vain. This paper analyzes the posthumous rights of a social media user. It also explores the laws available in the US and India that protect the digital assets and examines the rules and regulations adopted by some of the most important social media platforms for the inheritance of the digital assets. Recommendations and suggestions for the practical implementation of digital inheritance are provided.
References
Ahmad, Akhlak, and Swadesh Sharma. “Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access of Heritage Knowledge in India”. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology 40, no. 5 (2020): 321-325. https://doi.org/10.14429/djlit.40.05.15822
Atwater, Justin. “Who Owns Email? Do you Have the Right to Decide the Disposition of your Private Digital Life?”. Utah Law Review 397 (2006).
Babbar, Sonakshi. “Why You Should Have a Digital Will”. In the Black. http://www. intheblack.com/articles/2018/06/01/why-have-digital-will (accessed January 24, 2021).
Banta, N.M. “Inherit the Cloud: The Role of Private Contracts in Distributing or Deleting Digital Assets at Death”. Fordham L. Rev. 799 (2014). https://ir.lawnet.fordham. edu/flr/vol83/iss2/16
Berlee, Anna. 2017. “Digital Inheritance in the Netherlands”. Journal of European Consumer and Market Law 6: 256–260. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3082802
Blanke, Tobias. Digital Asset Ecosystems: Rethinking crowds and clouds. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2014.
Boyd, Danah. “Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life”. In Youth, Identity, and Digital Media, edited by John Buckingham, 119-129. Cambridge: MIT, 2009. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/ dmal.9780262524834.119
Cambridge Dictionary. “Digital Asset Management”. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ dictionary/english/digital-asset-management
Chakraborty, Swatilekha . “Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights: An Analysis of whether both are Convergent or Parallel to Each Other?”. Novum Jus 12, no. 2, 13–38. https:// doi.org/10.14718/NovumJus.2018.12.2.2
Conway, Heather, and Sheena Grattan. “The 'New' New Property: Dealing with Digital Assets on Death”, in Modern Studies in Property Law, edited by H. Conway and R. Hickey, vol. 9, 1st ed, 99-115. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2017.
Darrow, Jonathan J., and Gerald Ferrera. “Who Owns a Decedent’s E-Mails: Inheritable Probate Assets or Property of the Network?” NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy 10 (2007).
Digital Preservation Coalition. “Digital Preservation Handbook”. (2008). https://www. dpconline. org/docs/digital-preservation-handbook> (accessed on January 24, 2022).
Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Digital Rights Management Systems and Copy Protection Schemes”. https://web.archive.org/web/20110209160908/http:/w2.eff.org/IP/DRM/ (accessed January 24, 2022).
Facebook. “What is a Llegacy Contact and what Can they Do with my Facebook Aaccount?”. Help Centre. https://
Facebook. “What Will Happen to My Facebook Account If i Pass Away?”. Help Centre. https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143 (accessed January 21, 2022).
Facebook. “Request Memorialization”, Help Centre. http://www.facebook.com/help/ requestmemorialization (accessed January 21, 2022).
Farooqui, Mohammad Owais, Dinesh Ashok, and Tahir Qureshi. “The Essence of Western- Christian Influence in Talmudic Legal Tradition”. Pharos Journal of Theology 103, no. 2 (2022): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.103.206
Google. “Submit a Request Regarding a Deceased User’s Account”. Support Page. https:// support.google.com/accounts/troubleshooter/6357590 (accessed January 22, 2022).
Google. “About Inactive Account Manager”. Support page. https://support.google.com/ accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en (accessed January 21, 2022)
Gozdziaszek, Lukasz. “Likwidacja tożsamosci”, Non Omnis Moriar (Wrocław: Oficyin Prawnicza, 2015).
Grimmelmann, James. “Saving Facebook”. Iowa Law Review 94 (2009): 1137-1154.
Grochowski, Mateusz. “Inheritance of the Social Media Accounts in Poland”. European Review of Private Law 27, no. 5 (2019): 1195-1206. https://doi.org/10.54648/erpl2019065
Harbinja, Edina. “Post-Mortem Social Media: Law and Facebook after Death”. In The Legal Challenges of Social Media, edited by David Mangan and Lorna Gillies. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Instagram. “How do I Report a Deceased Person’s Account on Instagram?”. Instagram Help Centre. http://www.facebook.com/help/instagram/264154560391256 (accessed January 21, 2022).
Ionos. “Digital legacy”. https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/websites/digital-law/digital-legacy (accessed 16 January 16, 2022).
Johnson, Joseph. “Worldwide Digital Population as of January 2021”. Statista. http:// ww.statista.com/statistics/Keelery, Sandhya. “Number of Internet Users in India 2010–2040”. Statista. http://www.statista.com/statistics/255146/number-of-internet- users-in-india/ (accessed January 17, 2022).
Kharitonova, Julia. “Digital Assets and Digital Inheritance”. Law & Digital Technologies 1: 19–26. https://doi.org/10.18254/S123456780015732-6
LinkedIn. “Deceased LinkedIn Member”. htttps://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ answer/2842/deceased-linkedin-member?lang=en (accessed 22 January 22, 2022).
Media Daily News . “QuickPlay Distributes TV over Mobile Wi-Fi” (November 11 2009).
Navas, Susana. “Digital Content of the Inheritance: Remarks on the Judgment of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) of 12 July 2018 from the Standpoint of Spanish Law”. European Review of Private Law 27, no. 5 (2019): 1159–1168.
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. “Fact Sheet: Digital Rights Management and Have to Do: Technical Protection Measures”. Fact Sheets. November 2006. ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160414002554/http:/www.priv.gc.ca/resource/fs-fi/02_05_d_32_e.asp
Pike, George H. “Legal Issues: What to Do with Your Digital Life”. (2014) http://dx.doi. org/10.2139/ssrn.2963660
Polk, Michael J. “Be Right Back: Black Mirror and the Importance of Digital Estate Planning”. South Carolina Lawyer 31, no. 1, 52–57.
Rodríguez, Julián, and Clark, Andrew. “Big Data and Journalism: How American Journalism is Adopting the Use of Big Data: How American Journalism is Adopting the Use of Big Data”. Novum Jus 15, no. 1 (2021): 69–89. https://doi.org/10.14718/ NovumJus.2021.15.1.4
Simmons, Betsy. “The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act”. https:// www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ufadaa.html (accessed January 20, 2022).
Szulewski, Pavel “Smierc 2.0”, Non Omnis Moriar, (Wrocław: Oficyin Prawnicza, 2015).
The Indian Succession Act. (1925). ACT No. 39 of 1925.
The Information Technology Act. (2000). ACT No. 21 of 2000.
The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA). (2015) Toygar, Alp, C.E. Taipe Rohm Jr., and Jake Zhu. “A New Asset Type: Digital Assets,” Journal of International echnology and Information Management 22, no. 4 (2013): https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/jitim/vol22/iss4/7 (accessed November 28 2021).
Tubrazy, Shahid Jamal “The Concept of Digital Inheritance in Cyberspace”. 2014. http:// www.academia.edu/8908291/The_Concept_of_Digital_Inheritance_in_Cyberspace (accessed January 15, 2022).
Twitter. “Privacy Policy”. https://twitter.com/en/privacy.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “Concept of Digital Preservation”. https://en.unesco.org/themes/information-preservation/ digital-heritage/concept-digital-preservation (accessed January 28, 2022).
Vučković, Romana, and Ivana Kanceljak. “Does the Right to use Digital Content Affect our Digital Inheritance?” EU and Member States Comparative Law Issues and Challenges Series (ECLIC) 3 (2019): 724–746. https://doi.org/10.25234/eclic/9029
Workman, Jeb. “How Valuable are your Digital Assets?”. Roche Legal. http://www.rochelegal. co.uk/news/how-valuable-are-your-digital-assets/ (accessed December 30, 2021).
Zhao, Li, Xi-ye Li, and Shu-hui Yang. “Succession of Digital Inheritance Involving Accounts”. Journal of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (Social Sciences Edition) 14, no. 3: 33–39. https://journalsk.bupt.edu.cn/EN/Y2012/V14/I3/33
Reference by
