Quote:
Originally Posted by Belfaborac
If a contract was signed, then yes. There are, presumably, laws in the US, including contract law. If they don't want to pay, then they can hand the manuscript back and the family is free to approach someone else.
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Contract law is a two way street; there generally has to be a quid pro quo for it to be valid. If party A was suppose to deliver X, and failed, then party B will no longer be obligated to deliver Y.
In the specific example, in a publishing contract, the publisher agrees to pay the author (or the author's estate) for the exclusive use of a specific set of rights to the work (which could be all rights). If copyright expires at death, the author's estate is not able to grant those rights, therefore the contract immediately becomes void.
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Bill