Re: Question re: Copyright of Family Journal

On Thu, 21 Jan 1999, Stephen Fishman <sfish55[_at_]yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Emily Davis <heartnphilly[_at_]earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > The lifetime partner of my great aunt kept a journal detailing their
> > life together at my great aunt's farm in upstate New York. They have
> > both passed away, and I am wondering what is the status of the
> > copyright, especially with regards to publication and/or adaptation.
>
> The copyright lasts for the life of the last surviving author plus 70
> years. If the last survivor died more than 70 years ago, the copyright
> will expire on Jan. 1, 2003, unless the work is published before then.
> If it is, the copyright will last until 2047.

Emily,

I just noticed your question and the response. What you describe sounds somewhat similar to my experience. My mother died leaving behind an unpublished and unfinished manuscript of her life during the Depression in New England. I was her only child and by her will inherited whatever there was including the unspecified manuscript. About 10 years after she died, I read it, liked it very much, typed it into my computer with a few editorial changes, got it to an agent who got it accepted for publication. I wrote the beginning and the end and own the copyright by virtue of the will.

The book is THE ORCHARD, by Adele Robertson Crockett with a Forward/Epilogue by me. It was published (receiving excellent reviews) by Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt, in 1995 with a Bantam paperback edition a year or so later.

Good luck with your aunt's journal.

Betsy R. Cramer
<betsrob[_at_]aol.com> Received on Thu Feb 11 1999 - 17:24:05 GMT