As I posted elsewhere, you seem to be missing the point I was trying to make. But let's run with it: What does "deserving" have to do with it? If I write the n

As I posted elsewhere, you seem to be missing the point I was trying to make. But let's run with it: What does "deserving" have to do with it? If I write the next Great American Novel and assign royalties to my favorite children's charity, do they deserve the royalties? No, I do, but I decided to give that income straight to them and my wishes should be respected in this regard. Setting aside issues of public domain, Hans Christian Andersen does deserve to be compensated for his work at least for the duration that the copyrights are his. And if he chooses to assign those royalties to his heirs on his death, then those people should be recipients just as if he had assigned royalties to some charity. Deserving has got nothing to do with it.