Anderson v. LaVere

DICKINSON, Presiding Justice,

for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. Legendary blues musician Robert Johnson died in 1938 without a will. The legatees of Johnson’s deceased half-sister sought to recover royalties and fees from the use of two photographs of Johnson. Among the several reasons the trial court denied their claim was that the statute of limitations had expired. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. When Johnson died intestate on August 16, 1938, he had no money and appeared to have left no assets to distribute to his heirs, so no estate was opened at that time. But the increasing popularity of…