I was in the process of designating a Legacy Contact, and was wondering how inheritance of iTunes store digital assets worked.
I have a substantial number of iTunes store digital assets: Music, Movies, TV shows - and was wondering what would happen to the digital assets upon my demise.
Is there a way to transfer those digital assets to someone else when I expire?
Thanks in advance for any information.
iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.4
Hi! As stated in this Apple Article, Data that a Legacy Contact can access - Apple Support, licensed media, for example, movies, music, and books that the account holder purchased are not available for a Legacy Contact. And according to this Apple article, Request access to an Apple account as a Legacy Contact - Apple Support, the legacy contact will have access to the legacy account for a limited time—three years from when the first legacy account request is approved—after which the legacy account is permanently deleted.
I hope that helps.
Hi! As stated in this Apple Article, Data that a Legacy Contact can access - Apple Support, licensed media, for example, movies, music, and books that the account holder purchased are not available for a Legacy Contact. And according to this Apple article, Request access to an Apple account as a Legacy Contact - Apple Support, the legacy contact will have access to the legacy account for a limited time—three years from when the first legacy account request is approved—after which the legacy account is permanently deleted.
I hope that helps.
In no case did I see anything about transferring digital iTunes assets to another account -
If that is the answer you were hoping for, you will be disappointed. There is no provision to transfer purchased content from one account to another. That is true whether the account holders are dead or alive, or even across two accounts of the same individual.
So in other word, licensed iTunes Store assets - Music, Movies, TV shows are go kaput at the same time as the owner.
The heirs can access the media using the deceased's account for three years, then the account goes away along with all media access.
Well ... that really sucks.
That would mean that FairPlay protected media can no longer be accessed after the deceased's account is deleted - so even if it's downloaded the downloads would become useless.
Okay, I guess this means that all my future media purchases will have to be on Blu Ray and RIPped into digital MKV and converted to H.264/265 with subtitles added. At least this type of digital content will be free from FairPlay restrictions.
It also means that digital asset licenses are transitory, and that they only extend to the lifetime of the original purchaser.
That this isn't clearly spelled out smells a bit like fraud, and sounds like a good reason for a potentially expensive bout of litigation (and I'm a stockholder 😄).
Big Iron,
They can be inherited like any assets, but as a practical matter, there are the complications of the password and DRM protections. Make sure your heirs are aware of this process:
How to request access to a deceased family member's Apple account - Apple Support
I could swear that I read in this AppleInsider article that the Legacy Contact would not have access to iTunes assets, and that the account of the deceased would be deleted after three years.
In no case did I see anything about transferring digital iTunes assets to another account - something that I wish I could do since the old model of a separate iTunes ID for mail and other personal information and iTunes store purchases seem to have been deprecated by Apple.
I sure hope this isn't a case of the content was licensed to the deceased, and upon his death that license is null and void.
Anyone have the real skinny on whether iTunes digital assets are inheritable?
After all, we pay real money for those assets, and my purchasing decisions would change dramatically if the assets were only around as long as I am.
Inherited iTunes store digit assets
