Is it possible to own something after you die?

digsbe said:

I think you can retain intellectual property after you die. Like if you write a song or make a patent that material is yours for eternity. Your name and credit will go to you even after you die, but in your death you can't really chose what to do with it (like music companies publishing the music of dead artists to make money off their work).

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Similarly, royalties may be paid to the state of a dead person.

Goobieman said:

Obviuosly a dead person cannot exercise any direct will or decision over the properties in question -- but that doesn't equate to an argument that he does not still legally own them.

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But there is no more "he" after death. It is just a body.

megaprogman said:

But there is no more "he" after death. It is just a body.

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Yes. I think the post you responded to addresses that.
YOU are more than just your personal self - you are also a legal entity.

Even if "you" don't live anymore, your legacy still does. You legacy may have ownership of things (to some degree), which is sorta like you having ownership over it even in your death. We still refer to paintings done by dead painters as theirs, but we know they obviously don't belong to them.

digsbe said:

Even if "you" don't live anymore, your legacy still does. You legacy may have ownership of things (to some degree), which is sorta like you having ownership over it even in your death. We still refer to paintings done by dead painters as theirs, but we know they obviously don't belong to them.

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I wasn't referring to the continuing of one's reputation or good name.

megaprogman said:

I wasn't referring to the continuing of one's reputation or good name.

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Ok. What do you think about intellectual property rights though? By standards of ownership someone's ideas and art in life will "belong" to them forever. However, when they die the entitlements shift to another living person/company.

digsbe said:

Ok. What do you think about intellectual property rights though?

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A compromise which brings about financial compensation in order to promote creativity and innovation for the benefit of society.

digsbe said:

By standards of ownership someone's ideas and art in life will "belong" to them forever. However, when they die the entitlements shift to another living person/company.

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I am not sure that a person can really own an idea since it is not physical. Art is physical and it can be bought and sold just like any other physical item.

The answer is no.

Problem is, corporations are considered individuals, but because they're not real people they are virtually immortal. Thus they can own things in perpetuity, which I think is something our society should do away with.

The concept of private property in general is illusory. It's only maintained through power. You have a gun, so you shoot people who come near it. If an army invades and shuts you down, you don't own it anymore. "Ownership" and "intellectual property rights" are things that our civilization needs to overcome before we can progress to higher levels of existence. It's based on a hording instinct and little more. In terms of intellectual property, it's an example of this instinct magnified to absurd levels; not only do I not support intellectual property laws, I encourage everyone to violate them routinely until our current stagnation of mass ownership is released.

Human rights are also an extension of property rights. You can't own property if you're not considered to be a person. Thus, you're not a person if you don't 'own things'. As long as we consider these things to be material possessions as opposed to intrinsic spiritual qualities of our human natures, we are eventually bound to lose them by force, as history has proven in cyclical order.

I think humans, as a whole, will be better off once we truly recognize that our lives are short and impermanent, and the physical stuff that surrounds us is just part of the current drama. The real value resides in the non-material, by looking inward.