Martha Graham left her dances to Ron Protas in 1991, and federal courts ruled from 2002 to 2006 that her own center owned them

Martha Graham died in 1991 aged 96. Her sole heir was Ronald Protas, her close friend, who had become artistic director of her Center. Protas set up the Martha Graham Trust to license the works and created a separate Martha Graham School and Dance Foundation in 2000. The Center sued. A bench trial in early 2001 found that Graham had assigned her name to the Center. On 23 August 2002 the district court held that the Center owned the copyrights to 45 dances and Protas owned one. In October 2004 the Second Circuit largely affirmed, reasoning that Graham was an employee of her own Center from 1966 until her death and her works were made for hire, so they could not pass by will. It sent seven dances from 1956 to 1965 back to the district court. On 23 June 2005 the district court held the Center owned them, and the Second Circuit affirmed on 11 July 2006. The courts found that Graham was never paid a royalty during the relevant period. Protas died in January 2026^†.