A literary executor is a person with decision-making power in respect of a literary estate.

The literary estate of an author who has died will often consist mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including for example film and translation rights. It may also include original manuscripts of published work, which potentially have a market value; unpublished work in a finished state or partially completed; and papers of intrinsic literary interest such as correspondence or personal diaries and records. In academia, the German term Nachlass for the legacy of papers is often used. For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with copywriting. ... For the 2006 film, see Intellectual Property (film). ... Film rights, like dramatic rights, these belong to the author, who may sell or option them to someone in the film industry - a producer or director, for example (or sometimes a specialist broker of such properties) - who will then try to gather the other professionals and secure the financial backing... Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Academia is a collective term for the scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. ...

Since the literary estate is a legacy to the author's heirs, the management of it in financial terms is a responsibility of trust. The position of literary executor has more to it than the simple monetary aspect, though. Appointment to such a position, perhaps informally, is often a matter of the author's choice during his or her lifetime. If a sympathetic and understanding friend is in the position of literary executor, there can be obvious tensions: what is to be managed is not just a portfolio of intellectual property, but a posthumous reputation. Wishes of the deceased author may have been clearly expressed, but are not always respected. Family members often express strong feelings about privacy of the dead. For example, biographical writing is likely to be of a quite different authority if it is carried out with access to private papers. The literary executor then becomes a gatekeeper. For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... An executor is a person named by a maker of a will to carry out the directions of the will. ...

Examples of literary executors include Max Brod for Franz Kafka, Sir Edward Marsh for Rupert Brooke, Robert Baldwin Ross for Oscar Wilde, Robert Hayward Barlow for Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Otto Nathan for Albert Einstein. If Brod had followed Kafka's expressed wishes on the destruction of his papers, Kafka's current reputation would be almost nonexistent.^[1]. A particularly notorious example is Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche for Friedrich Nietzsche, as she even resorted to fraud to make her brother's Nachlass more compatible with Nazi ideology.^[2] The older examples of such appointments, such as Kenelm Digby for Ben Jonson, are essentially editorial rather than legal. A contemporary case is Christopher Tolkien's work on J. R. R. Tolkien's papers. Max Brod Max Brod (May 27, 1884 – December 20, 1968) was a German-speaking Jewish author, composer, and journalist. ... “Kafka” redirects here. ... Edward Marsh (1872-1953) was an English polymath, the sponsor of the Georgian school of poets and a friend to many individuals, including Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon. ... A statue of Rupert Brooke in Rugby Rupert Chawner Brooke (August 3, 1887 – April 23, 1915) was an English poet known for his idealistic War Sonnets written during the First World War (especially The Soldier), as well as for his poetry written outside of war, especially The Old Vicarage, Grantchester... Robert Ross at twenty-four For other uses of this name, see Robert Baldwin (disambiguation). ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ... Robert Hayward Barlow (18 May 1918 – 2 January 1951) was an American author, anthropologist and historian of early Mexico, and expert in the Nahuatl language. ... H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890–March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy and horror fiction, noted for giving horror stories a science fiction framework. ... Otto Nathan (1893-1987) was an economist who taught at Princeton University (1933-35), New York University (1935-42), Vassar College (1942-44), and Howard University (1946-52). ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, ca. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philosopher. ... Sir Kenelm Digby (July 11, 1603 – July 11, 1665) was born at Gayhurst, Buckinghamshire. ... For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ... Christopher Reuel Tolkien (born November 21, 1924) is best known as the third son of author J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973), and as the editor of much of his fathers posthumously published work. ... Tolkien redirects here. ...

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