After the introduction, the second part explores the implications of digital death by conceptualizing digital assets and surveying the underlying legal principles of contractual policies, probate, property, and privacy concerns.

FORBES: After Death Your Facebook Account May Become the Subject of a Lawsuit

In 2004 I directed my first digital movie called Death Clique, all shot using a Panasonic DVX100 camera.

FORBES: Connect

He was dead as a doornail and while the digital record of his death was hard to find, there was ample evidence in printed books and newspapers that he died and Mark, the chief inheritor of his fortune, knew very well that he was dead.

FORBES: An Internet Carol

Legacy Locker isn't the only new company helping techies plan for death in the digital age.

CNN: New services promise online life after death

If he is right, digital technology may herald the death of film, but another rebirth of movies.

ECONOMIST: Curtains for celluloid

The problem is so common that the Uniform Law Commission, the group that recommends uniform state laws, is working on a recommended statute that states could adopt to deal with post-death access to digital assets.

WSJ: What a Tangled Web We Leave

And family members are often desperate for a peek into the digital lives of their loved ones after death.

FORBES: Will You Use Google's Death Manager To Let Loved Ones Read Your Email When You Die?

Maybe, but this seeming life-after-death underscores the importance of how we manage our digital profile in the here and now.

FORBES: Connect

Even then, the service would not release digital assets without examining a copy of the customer's death certificate, Toeman said.

CNN: New services promise online life after death

Overall, that means the market is only down 3% since 2009, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, but a closer look at the numbers shows a bleak landscape for studios still reeling from the death of the DVD golden goose.

FORBES: Home Video Market Still in Free Fall