These days, divorce in New Jersey may not only be about who keeps the house, the car, or even the dog—nowadays it also may be about who gets the digital content. Welcome to the brave new world of equitable distribution where digitally-based “assets” (e.g., iTunes libraries which may contain thousands of hours of musical and video content) are, in some instances, becoming one of the most hotly contested assets of all. In addition to being a highly desirable asset, an iTunes library may have been amassed to the “tune” of thousands of dollars. Furthermore, the entire catalogue of an iTunes account is instantly accessible with a few swipes, rendering the possession of a well-stocked iTunes account a highly desirable but, unfortunately, not divisible marital asset.
Therefore, regardless of which spouse may have curated the music library, an iTunes account cannot be divvied up like a collection of records or CDs: rather, an iTunes account, including the username and password, belongs entirely to one person. Whomever retains the account gets everything associated with it because currently it is not possible to transfer a selected portion of the contents of an iTunes account to another iTunes account. Thus, given that an iTunes account is an all-or-nothing asset, unlike that collection of vinyl records or CDs, its value must be assessed so that the other spouse can receive an appropriate offset as part of equitable distribution.
However, unlike the valuation of physical assets, such as a car or a house, the valuation of digital content presents unique challenges because there is little by way of judicial guidance as to how to value a meticulously curated iTunes library--which may have cost thousands of dollars in the making. For divorcing couples in New Jersey, finding a fair way to distribute digital assets may require creative solutions and the attorneys at Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP have the experience and creativity to handle newly-emerging issues on the matrimonial landscape. If you have any questions about a divorce, call a member of our matrimonial team.