Bruce Willis 'to fight' for legal downloaders' posthumous rights

Bruce Willis to fight for legal downloaders' rights
Can't believe we couldn't shoe-horn death becomes her in

Bruce Willis has hired lawyers to make sure his iTunes collection of movies and music will pass to his children when he dies, according to reports.

Digital media has a reputation for being expendable but Willis is among music and movie fans who thought that hitting 'buy' on iTunes saw him entering an unbreakable agreement with Apple whereby he actually owned the music he just bought.

Unfortunately, should armageddon hit and his children somehow survive him, Willis' collection will no longer be legally accessible by Rumer, Scout and Tallulah because the rights can't be transferred.

Many people think this must be a rule dreamed up in sin city because Willis straight-up bought the songs and films.

But Willis obviously didn't read the iTunes terms and conditions (because, like, who does?), he wasn't aware he was technically just 'renting' the digital files from iTunes - if he'd bought them on CD or Blu-ray like a die hard fan, there'd be no question of his kids inheriting them.

Trust issues

Perhaps his sixth-sense is tingling, because rather than take this lying down Willis is going the whole nine yards and hiring a legal team to find a loop-hole; apparently this could include setting up a trust to house his downloads.

Of course it's not just Bruce Willis who's affected by these shonky terms and conditions – anyone who buys anything from iTunes is bound by the same non-ownership rules.

Willis is nobody's fool: he knows that popping down to the law-house and setting up a trust isn't something you and I are likely to do of a Monday morning, so he's also moonlighting as a campaigner by "backing legal moves to increase the rights of downloaders", according to The Sun.

Perhaps a shot of Willis is the fifth element needed to get Apple to re-jig the seemingly unfair iTunes terms. He's got our vote - Willis for president of Apple!

Update: Unsurprisingly, Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group is 100 per cent behind the Willis for President campaign. He told us:

"Bruce Willis is right to challenge Apple. It is morally wrong to claim that thousands of pounds of downloads expire on your death.

"This is an issue facing everyone as they collect ebooks, digital films and music. It could easily be sorted out by Apple and the entertainment industries, who should change the rules so that your digital investments can be passed on at your death."

From The Sun

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.