Heath Ledger's Oscar

Heath Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor last night.  He managed to do this despite not starring in Slumdog Millionaire.  According to pundits, Academy insiders knew Mr. Ledger was a lock to win the award.  However, there was a huge question lingering about the actual presentation of the award - who gets it?

Professor Gerry Beyer of Texas Tech School of Law explains the situation here.

Simply put, the Academy requires every Oscar winner to sign a "right of first refusal" contract.  This contract states the Academy has the right to purchase the Oscar back from any recipient before that winner can sell the award on the open market.

Although Heath Ledger's will stipulated his entire estate was to pass to his parents, Ledger's parents have granted the entire estate to Matilda, Ledger's child (he made the will before he was famous and had Matilda).  Matilda's guardian would have to sign the Academy contract on her behalf . . . but then she would not be required to honor it when she turned 18.  Giving all of us a chance to buy an Oscar on eBay in 15 years.

Beyer explains the way around this situation:

"To solve this problem, the Academy and Ledger's family have agreed to this solution -- Matilda's mother will hold the statuette in trust until Matilda reaches 18 at which point she must either sign the agreement or return the statuette to the Academy."

Darn, Oscar could have looked pretty good in my office.