Digital inheritance covers different rights connected with domain names, receivables arising from a website, content income, copyright and online accounts. Not all of them are transferred in the same way. The passing of an economic right to the estate does not mean that the heir may access all messages or continue to use a personal account under the same identity. [1, 2]
Content and advertising income
Advertising, subscription or sales income that was earned but not paid before the death may be an estate receivable. Income arising from existing works after the death and income produced by the heirs’ own new labor are assessed separately. A platform’s account-closure or memorialization policy is not a general rule that automatically extinguishes an accrued payment receivable.
A periodic statement is requested from the payment institution and the platform. Refunds, copyright notices, commissions and tax deductions are shown separately. If the account holder and the content creator are different persons, entitlement is investigated through the contracts. The “number of followers” should not, on its own, be treated as a transferable property right.
How does copyright pass?
The Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) regulates the transfer of economic rights by inheritance. Economic rights such as reproduction, distribution and communication to the public, and the exercise of moral rights, do not have the same legal structure. Which powers the heirs may exercise, and for how long, is examined under the relevant provisions, in particular FSEK Articles 19, 27 and 63. [2]
The calculation of the term of protection as, in general, the author’s lifetime plus seventy years after death should not be applied without examination to every type of work and every special situation. Joint works, anonymous works, foreign works and rights previously assigned by contract may change the result. An heir does not acquire an economic right that the decedent did not hold.
Personal account and private correspondence
| Right or content | Examination |
|---|---|
| Accrued payment | Receivable and authority to collect |
| Domain name | Registration agreement and renewal |
| Copyright income | Scope of the economic right and license |
| Photographs and files | Ownership, access and third-party rights |
| Private message | Confidentiality and communication rights |
| Personal profile | The platform’s post-death policy |
The protection of personal data and communications is assessed together with the heir’s economic interest. A platform may provide certain data or a payment process without giving out the account password. Google’s application mechanism for deceased users is an example of an institution that shows this distinction; it is not a common outcome for all platforms. [4]
Applicable law and evidence
The law applicable to a contract with a foreign service provider, the inheritance statute and the jurisdiction of a court in Türkiye are examined separately. A foreign-court clause in the terms of use does not in every case exclude Turkish consumer law or mandatory rules; the specific relationship must be assessed. [3]
Contracts, payment reports, content dates and registrant information that were obtained lawfully are preserved. Instead of logging in without authorization or sending a support request under a false identity, the capacity as heir is stated openly. If there is a risk of deletion, preservation of the records is requested; in collecting technical evidence, integrity and time information are important.
Separating access from ownership in the digital asset inventory
Holding a password does not mean owning all the rights in the account. A domain name may be registered in the name of a company; content may have been prepared by the decedent but its economic rights may have been assigned to a publisher; advertising income may accumulate in a different payment account. In the inventory, technical access information and legal entitlement must be kept separate. The registrar’s invoices, license agreements, platform payment reports and documents of assignment of economic rights are examined together. [1, 2]
Having had a website designed does not mean having purchased unlimited copyright in all the photographs used. The heirs should compare their new plan of use with the scope of the existing licenses. A right that the decedent did not hold, or that has expired, does not arise anew through inheritance. In addition, if a company manager dies, the problem of access to the site should not be confused with the passing of company property to the estate.
What protection can be taken before a domain name expires?
The final renewal date, the registered e-mail address and the payment method are determined early. If the term lapses, there may be a possibility of registration by a third party and recovery costs. A protective renewal and the transfer of the domain name to the personal name of one heir are not the same transaction. A temporary management arrangement should be set up while preserving the rights and the power of representation of the estate community. [1]
Hosting, e-mail, security certificate and payment services are separate contracts. The transfer of a domain name does not automatically deliver the server files. At closing, both the legal transfer at the registrar and the continuity of the technical services are checked. Passwords should not be written in the general inventory. Which heir paid the renewal fee, and how it is to be covered from the joint account, are also documented separately.
Period and scope of rights in copyright income
Royalties that accrued but were not paid before the death and income arising from use of the work after the death may be calculated separately. FSEK Article 63 regulates the passing of economic rights by inheritance, and Article 19 the special framework for the exercise of moral rights. No heir should assume that, to the exclusion of the others, he or she has unlimited authority to grant a license over the entire work. Joint entitlement and representation are addressed separately. [2]
The publisher’s statement should show the period of use, the work, the gross income, the contractual deductions and the net payment. If an advance was paid during the author’s lifetime, whether later income has been set off against it is investigated. Low income does not always mean underpayment; but an undocumented deduction should not be accepted without examination either. If the other party argues that the right was assigned in advance, the scope and term of the assignment agreement are examined.
How does a platform’s death policy affect the economic right?
Account closure, memorialization, data requests and accrued payments may be subject to different application routes. The wrong type of request can make it harder to obtain the necessary records. First the economic receivable, the data to be preserved and the future of the account are determined. Google’s official process for the accounts of deceased users is an example of an institution; it is not a statutory rule applicable to all service providers.
Private correspondence may also include the communication and privacy interests of third parties. The specific record needed to establish a receivable is not the same as a request for unlimited access to all content. In a dispute with a foreign platform, the applicable law and the jurisdiction of the court are assessed separately within the framework of MÖHUK. [3]
Preserving evidence and closing the file
If there is a risk of deletion, URLs, dates, payment reports and contract samples are preserved in a lawful manner. It should not be left unclear which account and date a screenshot belongs to. Where necessary, the preservation of evidence is considered. Technical expert support does not make unauthorized access or impersonation lawful. [5]
The final list shows separately the domain names taken over, the files delivered, the licenses that continue, the accounts closed and the income collected. The person responsible for renewal is designated. Tax and contractual obligations that continue are recorded. In this way, digital inheritance is not limited to the handover of devices and passwords.
What does an actual court decision say on digital inheritance?
Antalya Regional Court of Appeal 6th Civil Chamber: rejection cannot be ordered without investigation
The application in decision E.2020/1149, K.2020/905 of the 6th Civil Chamber of the Antalya Regional Court of Appeal (Bölge Adliye Mahkemesi, BAM), dated 13.11.2020, concerns the iCloud account of a deceased person and the determination of the digital estate. The applicant claimed that, besides data relating to the family, there were also records that might have economic value. The court of first instance rejected the request on the ground of private life.
The BAM held that digital elements of economic value must be investigated within the scope of the estate, set aside the rejection decision for incomplete examination and sent the file back. The outcome is not an order for unconditional access to all data or for the handover of a password. It therefore cannot be concluded from the decision that all of the account holder’s private messages are automatically opened to the heirs. Accessible full text of the decision
The decision’s contribution to file preparation is that the request must not be left abstract. The account identifier, the link to the economic right, the records sought and the risk of loss should be explained. A request that “the entire digital life be handed over” is not the same as the investigation of specific income records or of files belonging to the estate. Requests for preservation, determination and final handover should be set out separately, and the rights of third parties must also be taken into account. For the protection of the estate, Turkish Civil Code (TMK) Article 589 and the following articles are considered, and for judicial evidence and interim protection the relevant procedural provisions. TMK
Personal, commercial and mixed accounts in legal scholarship
In his study titled “Dijital Varlıkların Miras Yoluyla İntikali” (The Transfer of Digital Assets by Inheritance), Eşref Can Gürbüz addresses the distinction between commercial, personal and mixed use. Besides the transfer of economic value, he discusses family memories and privacy problems, and proposes that new regulations balance the legitimate interests of the persons concerned. This academic assessment is not a binding court decision. In practice, instead of the claim that all accounts will be transferred by the same procedure, the purpose and legal nature of each item must be determined. Gürbüz, 2023, full text
Platform applications: data, payment and account closure are separate requests
| Service | Approach in the official explanation | Point to watch in an estate file |
|---|---|---|
| Separate processes for account closure, funds requests and data requests | It is not assumed that a password or login details will be provided | |
| Apple | Death certificate, legal documents depending on the country, or a Digital Legacy access key | The device lock and the cloud account are kept apart |
| Domain name registrar | Procedure depends on the type of registration and contract | Renewal, the registrant and management authority are checked |
| Income platform | Account policy and payment agreement are examined together | A closed profile is not confused with an accrued receivable |
Google explains that it may consider requests concerning the account of a deceased user, but that it does not provide passwords or other login information. The fact that an application can be made does not mean that the delivery of data or money will definitely be accepted. Apple, for its part, may request a death certificate and legal documents depending on the country; where a Digital Legacy contact has been designated in advance, the access key is important. The technical process of wiping a device should not be started before the need to preserve the evidence inside it has been addressed. Google application page · Apple official explanation
Designating a “legacy contact” on a platform does not mean that this person has been appointed sole heir under Turkish inheritance law. Authority to access an account is different from entitlement to property. Likewise, a digital note or a list of passwords does not, by itself, replace a valid will. When planning during one’s lifetime, the form of dispositions upon death and the rules on reserved portions are assessed separately.
How are the decedent’s data and the rights of living persons separated?
In decision No. 2019/273 of the Personal Data Protection Board (Kişisel Verileri Koruma Kurulu) dated 18.09.2019, a request concerning the health data of a deceased spouse was not assessed under Article 11 of the Law, because it did not concern the applicant’s own personal data. The Board concluded that there was no action to be taken under Law No. 6698. This administrative decision does not mean that all requests for information by heirs are prohibited, or that all records can be disclosed without limit after death. KVKK decision summary
A mailbox may contain the data of living customers, patients, employees or family members. If the request relates to a specific income record, it may not be necessary to reproduce unrelated private messages in bulk. Methods for preserving the records and examining them in a limited way, the need for a technical expert and the necessary confidentiality measures are determined according to the nature of the file. Obtaining information as an heir does not, by itself, give authority to publish it on the internet.
How are the contract and the work file prepared in a copyright inheritance?
An economic right, a copy of the work and moral authority are not the same
Receiving the high-resolution file of a photograph does not mean acquiring all the economic rights in the photograph. If the decedent was the author, the passing of the economic rights is examined under FSEK Article 63. If there is a prior assignment or license agreement, its scope is investigated separately. In the exercise of moral rights, the special regime in FSEK Article 19 applies; these powers should not be treated merely as a monetary receivable divided according to inheritance shares. FSEK
The work file should contain the title of the work, information on its creation and first publication, the co-authors, the licensing entity, the contract term and the type of use. Whether an authorization that a publisher obtained only for the printed book also covers an e-book or other uses is examined according to the contract. The fact that a work appears free of charge on the internet does not show that copyright protection has ended. For the heirs to enter into a new license agreement, joint entitlement and power of representation must also be established.
Two separate periods of income
Hypothetically, suppose there is an advertising receivable of TRY 40,000 for the period before the death and royalty income of TRY 15,000 arising from use after the death. The record-keeping and tax review of these two amounts are carried out separately. In addition, if there is income arising from new content that the heir prepared after the death, it is assessed whether it rests on personal labor, a right of the estate or a joint activity. Writing all income as a single item of “inheritance money” makes the calculation of rights and expenses unclear.
The remote-transaction file of an heir abroad
The application begins by determining the actual legal entity of the service provider and its country. The platform’s brand and the contracting party may not be the same. The file on capacity as heir, representation and translation is prepared for that addressee. Legalization of foreign documents, the legal effect of a court decision and its actual enforcement are separate questions; obtaining an apostille alone does not complete all the stages. MÖHUK
The first request states the account reference, the date of death, the applicant’s capacity, the data to be preserved and the nature of the economic right. If the term of a domain name is approaching, a separate step is planned for renewal and temporary management. At the end of the transfer, the domain name registration, server administration, licenses, payment account and regular income reports are checked one by one. A changed password alone does not show that the legal transfer is complete, just as obtaining a certificate of inheritance alone does not ensure technical continuity.
Conclusion
The management of a digital inheritance is broader than access to an account. When the economic right, the personal content and the contractual service are separated, both the heir’s property right and the privacy of third parties can be protected.
Related articles: Are Crypto-Assets Inherited? The Transfer of an Exchange Account, Bitcoin and a Cold Wallet; How Are Electronic Money and Digital Wallet Balances Paid to the Heirs?; Can WhatsApp Messages and Digital Records Be Evidence in Court? Proof and Lawfulness in Civil Actions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an heir demand all account passwords?
There is no such general right in every case; access, content and the economic right are examined separately.
When a domain name is taken over, is all the content on the site taken over as well?
No. Copyright, license and trademark rights are assessed separately.
Can copyright income after death be inherited?
It may belong to the heirs, depending on the scope of the economic right and the contracts.
If a platform account is closed, does the receivable end too?
An accrued economic receivable and the end of the account service must be assessed separately.
Does a digital legacy contact become the heir to the entire estate?
No. The authority to access or manage an account designated by a platform is not the same as an act appointing an heir under inheritance law. Entitlement to the economic right is determined separately.
Does renewing a domain name confer personal ownership?
Paying the renewal fee for protective purposes does not turn a domain name belonging to the estate into the personal right of a single heir. The payment and the sharing of the expense are recorded; the legal transfer is made separately.
Can all of the decedent’s messages be shared with the family?
Capacity as heir does not confer unlimited authority to disclose. The communication and personal-data rights of living third parties, the purpose of the request and the necessary scope are assessed together.
Will Google or Apple necessarily give the heir a password?
There is no such general rule. Google explains that it does not provide login information; at Apple there are separate processes based on legal documents and, if there is one, a Digital Legacy access key.
Sources
[1] Law No. 4721, Turkish Civil Code
[2] Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works
[3] Law No. 5718 on Private International and Procedural Law
[4] Google Account Help, request concerning the account of a deceased user
[5] Law No. 6100, Code of Civil Procedure
[6] Accessible full text of the decision