Life of Rights
Definition
Life of Rights describes a royalty interest that lasts for as long as the seller's transferred royalty rights continue to exist. In marketplace listings, it is often used as a practical shorthand for long-duration or perpetual-style royalty exposure, distinct from capped, fixed-return, 10-year, or 30-year terms.
Why it matters
Term is one of the biggest drivers of royalty pricing. A Life of Rights asset usually deserves a higher multiple than a short capped stream because it can pay for longer. But the longer term also exposes the buyer to more years of income decay, platform changes, administration friction, and resale uncertainty.
Common misconceptions
- •Life of Rights is not always identical to Life of Copyright; it depends on what rights the seller owns and transfers.
- •Longer term does not make trailing yield more reliable.
- •A Life of Rights asset can still underperform if the income stream declines faster than expected.
Technical details
Marketplace pricing
AltStreet's Royalty Exchange dataset separates term structures because capped and fixed-term deals clear at different yields and multiples than long-duration Life of Rights deals.
Comparison use
When comparing platforms, Life of Rights marketplace multiples are the closest observable benchmark for long-duration royalty exposure, but they are not a perfect substitute for issuer-backed Life of Copyright securities.