Copyright in Personal Letters

I know we've discussed this issue before, but the following fact pattern has presented itself:

An author is writing a book on sports history and wants to reproduce, in their entirety, private letters written by players to fans throughout this century that he has acquired from various sources. The letters have never been published before.

I know that ownership of the letters does not give him ownership of the copyright in the letters. Many of the players were obscure and finding their heirs would be almost impossible. Does anyone know of any type of authority, e.g. a fair use case, that I could use to advise the author?

Thanks,

Eric Zohn
ezohn[_at_]wma.com Received on Tue Jul 29 1997 - 15:52:07 GMT