Law and the Digital Reanimation of the Dead: A Regulatory Framework for the Afterlife Economy

This book analyses the legal tensions that exist in the economy that purports to ‘reanimate’ the dead using postmortem digital technologies.

Technological reanimation has proven to be big business, with many notable commercial entities investing in this ‘afterlife economy’. Postmortem technologies convincingly replicate the appearance, physiognomy, conversation styles, and thought patterns of a deceased individual by generating digital copies that act in their stead. In the entertainment industry, new works can be created with dead celebrities through a postmortem copy that is managed by their representatives. The result is an economy where the dead are offered as a product or service to consumers, with some having their artistic legacies extended past death through an ‘afterlife career’. Many stakeholders stand to benefit from such a lucrative afterlife economy, but the law is simply not prepared for the issues that will arise with this exploitation of the dead. Reanimation requires the exploitation of one’s reputation, persona, artistic works, and personal data. However, the corresponding legal protections are either non-existent, inapplicable, or inconsistent across borders – depending on which posthumous interest is analysed. In response, and by studying the contours of the existing legal protections in the afterlife economy, this book proposes a system rooted in the ‘shared ownership’ over one’s postmortem copy, and the responsible ‘stewardship’ of legacies through fiduciary duties.

Law and the Digital Reanimation of the Dead will be of considerable interest to scholars working in the areas of entertainment law, intellectual property, and law and technology, as well as others with professional interests in the area.