The Artful Jurist

The reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, has died at age 91. The literary world bids farewell to one of the 20th century's most notable and eccentric writers.

Now we wait for the other shoe to drop.

The "shoe" to which I'm referring is the question over what is now to become of Mr. Salinger's long-coveted intellectual property. For years there have been rumors that he has written various stories that he locked away and wouldn't permit anyone to see -- let alone publish -- while he was alive. And then there were those who longed to turn Catcher, his iconic novel of a forlorn youth, into a movie. This, too, Mr. Salinger refused to allow while he was alive.

Well, now Mr. Salinger is no longer living and no longer here to guard the proverbial castle. And so opens a new chapter regarding his intellectual property...and what is to become of it.

As is always the case, our creations can outlive us for years. (Just ask Homer or Aristophanes.) But so, too, can copyright protection survive the mortals who created the intellectual properties it protects. Under current American law, copyright lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. So Mr. Salinger's copyrights are still very much intact.

Whether allegedly hidden stories are suddenly sprung from the vault, or Catcher becomes the next big Hollywood film project, is something that will depend entirely on whoever is now in control of Mr. Salinger's intellectual property. Sometimes it falls directly to heirs or will beneficiaries. Sometimes control is devised to a person designated as a literary representative of the estate. Either way, it's a whole new chapter for the works of Mr. Salinger.