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I started buying storage auctions in the middle of this year. In the third one I bought I ran across an unpublished manuscript for a fiction book U Boat treasure by Charles Hand.

He has no published works besides a boar hunter magazine, he was not an author. But this is complete 250 pages, never published. Like everything else I purchased in the storage, I own. If I throw it away, his work is gone forever. It is dedicated to submariners as well as his father.

I don't want to redo the contents or anything like that. Would I need to contact the family about it? It will need some going over make sure it's is grammatically correct but it is complete. I would begin the process of making this into an ebook right now if I know how to properly reference the author? He passed away this year and wife is deceased, does have children.

Rocky Pal
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    By "properly reference the author", I assume you intend to credit Charles Hand as the author? – F1Krazy Dec 06 '19 at 09:36
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    How long has it been since the author died? – Ray Butterworth Dec 06 '19 at 14:07
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    Using google I found out that he passed away in January of 2019 as well as his wife a few months afterwards. – Rocky Pal Dec 06 '19 at 16:14
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    F1, yes, I want no credit other than just to publish this fun fictional story loosely based around his life experiences and goes back and forth between WWII and current times, I believe. I don't want to alter it in any way. And again, it is dedicated. – Rocky Pal Dec 06 '19 at 16:16
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    You own the manuscript. You don't own the copyright. You need to contact the author or his estate. The copyright extends for 70 years after the author's death. – user207421 Dec 09 '19 at 01:22
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    Reading the other comments, I'm really glad to hear you got in touch with someone and that this might be able to go somewhere. A bit obvious, but *please keep us updated on how things go!* (Comments on the original question (ie here) would work - interested people would dig to find them. Note that StackExchange has a tendency to bury long comment chains, staying brief will help the updates be found.) A link to the finished book should be okay too, I think. – i336_ Dec 09 '19 at 08:39

3 Answers3

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You cannot publish the work without permission. It was copyrighted the moment it was written. The fact that you 'purchased' the manuscript is no defence. By that token I could 'publish' all the books I have purchased. You need to purchase the copyright from the family.

Surtsey
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  • Ok, I do get it now and understand the moment it is tangible it is copyright. Just left a page explaining. So, how do I get permission and what form do I need this permission? There is siblings but no wife. – Rocky Pal Dec 06 '19 at 16:27
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    @RockyPal Sursey is correct, the copyright belongs to the author, if he is deceased, it belongs to his estate, whoever is the inheritor of his property, by will or if he died intestate, by State laws; generally blood relatives in some order. If all you can find is siblings, I'd start with them. You'd have to contact an attorney for a contract to transfer copyright; but I believe that is simple enough that some online legal services might be able to do it. Google online legal services, you can often get fee quotes from lawyers online for a simple contract you can rely on. – Amadeus Dec 06 '19 at 17:03
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    How long after something is written does it enter the public domain, assuming the author takes no extra steps to keep it from doing so? – corsiKa Dec 06 '19 at 21:39
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    @corsiKa depends on the jurisdiction which is not listed here. According to the Berne convention (which pretty much all the world has signed) it must be at least 50 years after the author's death, and it's quite likely to be 70 years after the author's death. – Peteris Dec 06 '19 at 22:03
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    @Peteris: Tying copyright to the author's death might be reasonable if authors had to register copyrights to receive that level of protection, but unfortunately the authors of the statutes failed to consider the absurdity of making copyright duration depend upon factors that may be impossible to ascertain. If someone in the year 2100 finds a manuscript that says "Copyright 1980 John Smith", with no other information about authorship, should they have to wait until every John Smith who was alive in 1980 has been dead for 70 years before they could safely publish it? – supercat Dec 06 '19 at 23:40
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    @supercat it's your duty to establish the identity of the author - after all, the copyright restrictions still apply even if there's no notice whatsoever, so if the manuscript says "Copyright 1980 John Smith", it's much easier to determine who's the author and when they died than if you found that manuscript and that notice wasn't there. So yes, there's little thought about safe publishing after the expiry. – Peteris Dec 07 '19 at 00:20
  • The copyright of the work belongs to the author. But the author signed a contract with the storage company that contents of the unit becomes their property upon failure to pay rental fees. The storage company then sold the contents to OP. So shouldn't the IP should now belong to OP? – DarcyThomas Dec 07 '19 at 22:54
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    @DarcyThomas The physical manuscript itself is different than the right to reproduce it. If I go buy a copy of Harry Potter, I own the book, but I certainly don't have the right to make copies of it and publish it. I only own one book, while someone else owns the copyright. The storage company is entitled to recoup its unpaid fees by selling the physical items in the storage unit, but the copyright was never in the storage unit because its not a piece of physical property. – Zach Lipton Dec 08 '19 at 03:07
  • @ZachLipton My understanding was that the Harry Potter book I bought in the shop was a copy of the original. However owning the original (in this case, what was in the storage unit) means I have the right to make copies and sell (or give away whatever's) them. That is that how I believe it works with physical paintings anyway. Is it different with written works? – DarcyThomas Dec 08 '19 at 09:34
  • @DarcyThomas I don't think there is any rule forcing an artist to transfer copyright along with ownership of the physical artwork. Visual Artist Rights Act of 1990 gives artists in the US additional intellectual property related rights in their art. – Patricia Shanahan Dec 08 '19 at 17:03
  • @DarcyThomas Your argument does not hold. Transfer of physical property does not entail transfer of intellectual property. You buy a physical painting, you can sell it. It doesn't give you the right to create forgeries of it. That would infringe the painter's intellectual property. Same with letters. You have a letter from someone living, you can sell it, but only they can publish it, or authorize publication. – user207421 Dec 09 '19 at 04:18
  • @DarcyThomas "That is how I believe it works with physical paintings anyway": it doesn't work that way with paintings. If Alice paints a painting and sells it to Bob, Alice retains the right to sell (for example) a poster with a photograph of that painting. If Bob starts selling such posters without Alice's permission, Bob will be liable for damages should Alice sue. – phoog Dec 11 '19 at 15:50
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For what it's worth I think what you're trying to do is awesome!

As @Surtsey's answer (correctly) points out the work is still copyrighted regardless of the absence of an explicit copyright notice.

Assuming US copyright law applies here (you don't mention a locale so apologies if that is incorrect) then, unless some other entity had acquired it, ownership of the copyright passes to the author's heirs on their death and it's them that you'd need to contact in order to gain permission to publish the manuscript.

The company that operates the storage units might be the best place to start in terms of tracking them down.

You mention that the author died in 2019 - which means that the work won't be in the public domain yet (it will be in 2089 though).

Good luck!

motosubatsu
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    Thank you! I reached out and found one of his daughters. We are to meet soon and I am giving her LOTS OF ITEMS I saved for 6 months now. Personal items and photos reaching into the 1800s, even a tin type of her family! I have her mother's wedding dress. I didn't have to do any of that. But I am sentimental and this storage left me feeling that need to give this family back their photos as well as tangible Items I saved. I hope to meet the one daughter soon. What is the proper way to get permission? – Rocky Pal Dec 06 '19 at 16:37
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    @RockyPal First up would be to have a conversation with the daughter - if she's amenable then you'll need a publishing rights contract drawn up. Some good info on that here, but as with anything relating to entering into contract consulting a lawyer is always wise. – motosubatsu Dec 06 '19 at 16:43
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    How deep does permission go? If I get permission from one daughter, am I covered for the rest of the siblings? Saying this because I have only an open line of communication with the one daughter and have no info, no numbers, no facebook nothing on any of the other children I was lucky to find this lady who is in her 60s. Could I enter in a contract with the daughter? giving her or donating small % ? kicking the tires, again I don't want to see his work go unpublished. I may make $100 $1000 or 0 I have no idea I just want it read! – Rocky Pal Dec 07 '19 at 01:01
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    @RockyPal I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure you'd need to get permission from whoever it got given to in his will, if any, or from the executor of the estate, if it didn't get given to anyone in particular. Presumably the daughter could put you in contact with the person in question, if they're not that person themselves. – nick012000 Dec 07 '19 at 15:34
  • @RockyPal while you're talking to the lawyer and/or daughter, find out what other historic bits and pieces you can surface into the public record too - for example those photos (or super-high-res scans of them) might be appreciated by museums. – i336_ Dec 09 '19 at 08:42
  • @RockyPal As nick012000 says really - the daughter may not be the person who inherited the rights but she's the logical place to start and once you have the appropriate agreement in place with whomever does own them that's all you need. – motosubatsu Dec 09 '19 at 09:00
  • I believe it's actually January first of the 71st year after the author's death, so 2090, not 2089. – phoog Dec 11 '19 at 15:52
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This question addresses what I think you should do (not whether or not you can legally publish).

Make every effort you can to contact people who might care about the ms. That would be his family first, if you can find them.

A google search finds several organizations devoted to submariners. Here's one: http://www.isausa.org/ . They might be interested in publishing this, or at least preserving it in their archives or sharing with their members.

Ethan Bolker
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    If a submariner organization can publish it, I feel I can. I am going to seek permission from a daughter. – Rocky Pal Dec 06 '19 at 16:38
  • @RockyPal Try to find whether the daughter is the sole heir: if not it might be a good idea to get permission from everybody. I'm sure that you've seen news articles about toxic family feuds, often involving disputed wills... – Simon Crase Mar 27 '22 at 02:07