Intellectual property for sale

I heard on the radio the other day that the intellectual property rights for the entire Jimi Hendrix music catalog (including a lost and never-before-released single) is going up for auction in the fall. Hearing this didn't sit well with me. The idea that someone can sell off these rights for tons of money just sort of seems wrong to me.

Jimi's music was Jimi's property. And upon his death, he should be able to pass those rights down to his family. The family should be the only people who are allowed to own those rights. They shouldn't be able to sell them to the highest bidder. Something here just seems wrong to me. And I don't know why. Maybe it's because of what happened to part of the Beatle's catalog. That Michael Jackson now owns part of Paul McCartney's intellectual achievements is just plain wrong. All because Jacko had more money.

Once the rights leave the family, they should go into the public domain. Again, I have no good argument for this. It just sits better in my gut.

On the other hand, I read yesterday that the seller of Jimi's catalog has named fourteen charities as beneficiaries of his estate. This means that all the money from the auction will eventually go to the Asthma Research Council, the Leukemia Research Fund, The Salvation Army, and the eleven other charities. After hearing this, the auction now somehow seems okay.