M3 StudiosSpring, TX5 min readSeptember 7, 2026Right of publicity after death is a property right in Texas, and it lasts 50 years. Since 1987 the state has treated a dead person's name, voice, signature, photograph and likeness as an asset the family can license or sell, the same asset Primary Wave bought a share of from Wilson Pickett's estate on September 2. Most Houston artists never hear the first-year rule. Unless someone registers a claim with the Secretary of State on a $25 form, nobody can exercise that right for twelve months after the death, and when nothing was written down the statute splits it between a spouse and children, with the holders of more than half deciding for everyone.
Primary Wave announced the Pickett partnership on Wednesday, September 2: a stake in the publishing catalog behind "In the Midnight Hour," which he co-wrote, plus a share of his name, image and likeness, with terms undisclosed. Pickett died in January 2006 at 64 with more than 50 songs on the R&B chart behind him. On Thursday, September 3, HarbourView, a fund on track to pass $4 billion under management, bought producer David Kershenbaum's royalty streams, including his points on Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." One company paid for the right to put a dead singer's face on things, and another paid for a producer's continuing income from a 1988 record. The market is pricing what an artist leaves behind, and the name is on the list next to the songs.
Holly died in 1959 without a will, and for years his widow, Maria Elena Holly, fought businesses selling his likeness with no clear law behind her. She lobbied the Legislature, and the bill signed on May 22, 1987, went into the Property Code as Chapter 26, which the press called the Buddy Holly Bill. It gives a person a freely transferable property right in their name, voice, signature, photograph and likeness after death, for anyone who died on or after January 1, 1937, as long as those traits have commercial value at death or come to have it later. That last clause matters for a working artist, because the value can arrive after the funeral. The right runs 50 years from the date of death, and after the 50th anniversary anyone may use the name in any manner. That clock ran out on Holly himself in February 2009, which is why the answer to who owns his name in Texas today is nobody.
Registration is optional on paper and decisive in practice. A claim is filed with the Secretary of State on Form 3701 with a $25 fee, and a registered claim is prima facie evidence of ownership that beats a conflicting unregistered claim unless a court says otherwise. The rule that costs families money is the first-year rule: unless a valid claim is registered, the owner may not exercise the right at all during the first year after death, so an unregistered estate can neither license the name nor stop anyone else from using it for twelve months. When the artist never assigned the right, the statute vests it by default. A surviving spouse takes all of it if there are no children, half if there are, the children take all of it if there is no spouse, and the parents take it if there is nobody else. Where the right is split, the people holding more than half the interest can act for all of it. Unauthorized use exposes the user to actual and exemplary damages, lost profits and attorney's fees. The statute also carves out what stays free: a book, a film, a news story, a single original work of fine art. A biography does not need the estate's consent. A jersey does.
The Supreme x DJ Screw collection released on April 2, 2026, ran through Screw's estate: football jerseys carrying his image, sweatshirts, S.U.C. shirts and a bobblehead, licensed 25 years after his death in November 2000, with 24 years still on the Texas clock. That deal exists because someone holds the right and can sign for it. A Houston producer whose name is on a beat tag, a singer whose face is on a mural, a rapper whose ad-libs a brand might want in 2040, all of them are building the same asset, and most of them have never written down who gets it.
An estate licenses two things, the name and the masters, and the second one only exists to license if the artist owned the recording when it was made. One sentence in a will or an assignment naming who holds the name, and a $25 filing on day one, keeps the first year from disappearing. M3 Studios in Spring, TX cuts records the artist walks out owning, which is the half of the estate a form cannot fix later. Book the session at metamusicmedia.com/pages/book-your-session. Related reading: who owns your master recordings and how to trademark your artist name.
Who owns a musician's name after they die in Texas? Whoever the artist assigned it to in writing, and if nobody, the surviving spouse and children under Property Code Chapter 26, with the holders of more than half the interest able to act for all. The right lasts 50 years from death.
Do you have to register a right of publicity claim in Texas? Registration with the Secretary of State on Form 3701 costs $25 and is optional, but an unregistered owner cannot exercise the right during the first year after the death, and a registered claim beats an unregistered one.
Can a brand use a dead artist's name without permission? Only in the uses the statute permits, such as news, books, films and original fine art. Merchandise, endorsements and advertising need written consent from the rights holder for 50 years after death, and unauthorized use carries actual and exemplary damages plus attorney's fees.
This article is general information about a Texas statute, prepared for Houston artists and creators, and is not legal advice. Talk to a Texas attorney about your own estate and rights.
M3 Studios, a recording studio in Spring, TX serving Houston. Book a recording studio in Houston online at metamusicmedia.com/pages/book-your-session. Mixing engineer Houston and mix and master online: metamusicmedia.com/pages/audio-services. Follow Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn. Business and licensing: info@metamusicmedia.com.
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