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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;all_fakes, post: 276236, member: 55&quot;]Sorry, but that is not correct.&nbsp;&nbsp; Copyright in a poem or other art work is distinct from ownership of the item itself.</p><p>Simplest example:&nbsp;&nbsp; I buy a piece of published sheet music, or a Disney watch; that doesn&#039;t make me the copyright owner.&nbsp;&nbsp; If I buy an original painting, that doesn&#039;t make me the copyright owner, which would give me the right to reproduce the art.&nbsp;&nbsp; That right remains with the creator, and is not sold with the art itself, unless there is a separate document dealing with the sale of the copyright.</p><p>A common example comes from limited edition prints; the copyright to the art remains with the creator, and is not sold along with any of the copies; it is not sold if the artist sells his artist&#039;s proofs, and is not sold even if he sells the original painting itself.</p><p>Copyright for any original art belongs to the creator or his heirs from the moment of creation, whether that copyright is registered or not (though enforcement is vastly easier if the copyright is registered).</p><p>So, the heirs can sell the original manuscripts of a poem; they are legally just pieces of paper with words on them.&nbsp;&nbsp; The copyright, and thus the right to publish or reproduce the poetry, remains with the heirs.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;m speaking only of the legal situation; enforcement of a copyright can be a different kettle of fish.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; I&#039;d expect that a logical extension of those principles would be that sale of the manuscripts on ebay does not in any way transfer the copyrights, and I&#039;d guess that it does not legally constitute publication.</p><p><br /></p><p>Generally, in the US, copyrights for items created up to around 1929 have expired, and the rights have fallen into the public domain.&nbsp; For anything after that date (which is approximate) someone likely still owns the copyright.&nbsp;&nbsp; (Something I&#039;ve learned from researching musical copyrights.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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