quoting from letters in an archival collection
- August 13, 2004 @ 1:01pmrsorgenf says:I plan to write an article about the professional differences between 2 geologists in the 1920-1930 era. They wrote about their differences in an exchange of correspondence that is in an archival collection at my library. Both died in the early 1980's. One of the geologists has papers at another library and that library has the copyright to them. If I have copies of the same letters in another archival collection, is there a copyright conflict to me quoting from the copies of the letters that I have?
- August 15, 2004 @ 12:32pmJPilch says:If you intend to quote beyond what would seem reasonable under fair use, then you should seek permission from the copyright holder, whether you are using the original letters or copies. The copyright holder to the original letters and to any copies of them is the same entity. So the answer to your question is yes. I am just wondering if you should verify that the other library really has the copyright to the first geologist's papers. You should make sure that the geologist or his heirs assigned copyright to that library--and that the library doesn't just think it holds copyright by virtue of its owning the physical material. Please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and this should be interpreted not as legal advice, but as helpful information.
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