lostcohenarchives.com

What were Leonard’s intentions regarding his archives?

From Ira Nadel’s biography on Leonard, Various Positions:

 “As part of the process of artistic discovery, Cohen preserves his work in all of its stages. His collection of notes, papers, journals, drafts, memoirs, and letters form a lasting record of his work. Such an archive, he explains, is ‘at the very center of the thing. I see the work floating on the material.’ The published songs or poems are ‘just the Beacon, the designation—somehow the signal for an investigation of the entire work…. The archive is the mountain, and the published work the volcano.’”

Primary Source: Various Positions

Who owns the Leonard Cohen archives today?

According to the court, the archives are owned by his children, Lorca Cohen and Adam Cohen. The court explained:

“The remaining balance of Leonard’s estate at the time of his death was to be distributed through the Leonard Cohen Family Trust (‘the LCFT’), under which Adam and Lorca are the sole residual beneficiaries. The LCFT assets consisted principally of non-majority interests across Leonard’s music publishing company and Leonard’s touring company, plus 100% of a large collection of valuable ‘archival’ personal property items, including personal notebooks, music sheets, art, poetry, and a multitude of other tangible personalty items of popular and cultural value.”

Primary Source: Report & Rec

Who did Leonard appoint to fulfill his vision for his archive collection?

According to Robert Kory, Leonard’s manager, “in 2016, Leonard asked me to serve as the trustee of the Leonard Cohen Family Trust to manage his estate after he died, I accepted the role…” Kory further explained: “So, my final duty to Leonard has been to organize an effort to digitize the entire archive—all 550 terabytes—with the intention that it may be made available for scholarship, exhibition, and preservation for future generations.”

Primary Source: Afterword

Once the archives were digitalized, what were Robert Kory’s plans for the Cohen archives?

Robert De Young, archivist for the Leonard Cohen Family Trust, explained: “trustee Robert Kory and members of our team have been in conversation with Canadian universities, museums, art galleries, and philanthropists about the repatriation of Leonard’s archive to Canada.”  Further plans included:

• Placing the archive collection in one or more Canadian public institutions where researchers could access it.
• Supporting the creation of university-based Leonard Cohen studies programs at institutions such as McGill, the University of Toronto, UBC, and the University of Calgary.
• Developing a business plan for the enhancement and monetization of the archive’s assets.

Primary Source: LC symposium, Globe, Court

How would Leonard’s children benefit if Leonard’s plans for the archives are fulfilled?

Placing the archives in Canadian public institutions would ensure Leonard Cohen’s legacy endures for centuries. This would mean their father’s life’s work would remain accessible and influential long after their own lifetimes. Further, a university or major public institution would assume the long-term responsibility of preserving materials that are unique and irreplaceable.

Lorca and Adam would benefit as their father’s work would continue generating books, dissertations, exhibitions, documentaries, conferences, and academic research for decades. If the archives were sold to Canadian public institutions as was Leonard’s desire, the appraised value recognized by the court was $48.6 million, which would benefit Leonard’s children and grandchildren.

Primary Source: Afterword, LC symposium, Report & recommendation

How would Canadian universities and institutions benefit from purchasing the Leonard Cohen archives?

Canadian universities and cultural institutions would benefit from acquiring the Leonard Cohen archives because the collection would provide an extraordinary primary source for scholarship, teaching, and public education. The archive contains notebooks, photographs, drawings, correspondence, Cohen’s personal library, musical materials, and other artifacts documenting his life as a poet, novelist, songwriter, visual artist, and performer; yet only a fraction of this material has been available to scholars. The collection could therefore support decades of research across literature, music, poetry, visual arts, Canadian studies, religious studies, and archival scholarship. Robert Kory envisioned programs of Leonard Cohen studies at McGill, the University of Toronto, UBC, and the University of Calgary.

The archives would also provide Canadian institutions with a major cultural resource for exhibitions, publications, educational programs, and public engagement, while ensuring the material is professionally preserved for future generations. Just as importantly, bringing the archives to Canada would give the country a permanent home for a “national treasure,” allowing future generations—not only scholars and students but the public—to appreciate the manuscripts, photographs, letters, artwork, and other evidence of Cohen’s creative life.

Primary Source: Afterword, LC symposium, Report & recommendation, Scaling the Mountain, Globe

How would fans benefit from having access to the archives through Canadian institutions?

Fans would be able to experience Leonard Cohen’s creative world firsthand. The archives contain lyrics, photographs, letters, notebooks, artwork, personal effects, recordings, manuscripts, and other materials that reveal the person and creative process behind the finished songs and books. For fans, access would mean more than seeing memorabilia—it would allow them to experience the notebooks, drafts, photographs, letters, drawings, and other artifacts that reveal how the work they love came into being.

The archives would also reveal material that fans have never seen or heard. The goal is to make the archive “discoverable and accessible by all” and preserving it for generations. This could mean exhibitions, new publications, recordings, films, and other projects emerging from material that has remained inaccessible. For example, Robert De Young describes 11 previously unheard complete concerts and approximately 22 hours of unseen film from Cohen’s 1972 tour

Bringing the archive collection into Canadian institutions would transform it from a largely inaccessible private collection into a cultural resource that fans could appreciate, study, discuss, and share with future generations.

Primary Source: Afterword, LC symposium, Scaling the Mountain, Globe, Jerusalem Post

Why wasn’t Robert Kory able to carry out the plan for the archive collection?

Adam and Lorca Cohen challenged Robert Kory’s authority to serve as trustee of the Leonard Cohen Family Trust.  They alleged that trust documents were altered after Leonard’s death to make Kory trustee instead of Adam, Lorca, and Anjani Thomas. They further alleged that Kory improperly benefited from his control of the trust and archive. Kory denied wrongdoing, maintained that he followed Leonard Cohen’s wishes, and argued that he had substantially increased the estate’s value. The litigation resulted in Kory’s suspension and removal as trustee.

Thereafter, a court-appointed referee concluded that Kory had done nothing wrong in his handling of the estate and recommended approval of his actions and accounts.

Moreover, the court found that “Robert was candid and highly credible throughout all ten days of trial… “[E]ach of Robert’s challenged actions were at all times reasonable and ethical, and conducted with the full knowledge and approval of Adam and Lorca.”

The Referee found no fiduciary breach by Robert was established at trial. “Robert fully and competently carried out Leonard’s intentions throughout Robert’s various capacities as attorney, personal talent manager, business manager and trustee.” Further, the Referee found that “Robert at no point breached his fiduciary duties as trustee, nor did he obtain his trusteeship through fraud.” The Referee also determined that ”Robert at no point breached his fiduciary duties as trustee.”

Adam Cohen is currently appealing several findings of the Referee.

Primary Source: DailyMail, Guardian, NYPost, Variety, LATimes, Report, Times

What is the status of the Leonard Cohen archives today?

The archives remain in an office in Los Angeles, partially digitalized, and gathering dust. The current court litigation does not limit Adam and Lorca Cohen ability to sell their father’s archives to any Canadian institution.