ownership of the copyright is vested in trustees of the patrick and katherine kavanagh trust by virtue of the terms of the will of the late kathleen kavanagh, widow of the poet, who in turn became entitled to the copyright on the death of her husband. the proceeds of the trust are used to support deserving writers. the trustees are leland bardwell, patrick macentee, eiléan ní chuilleanáin, eunan o'halpin, and macdara woods. this was disputed by the late peter kavanagh who continued publishing his work after patrick's death. this dispute led some books to go out of print. most of his work is now available in the uk and ireland but the status in the united states is more uncertain.