Thread: Copyright question.

A friend of mine has asked if I can help prepare a book from hundreds of customer letters she has, but who owns the rights to these the writer or the recipient? My gut feeling is we are okay using them, I cant see Henry Root having got permissions from all his correspondents, but does any one know for sure?

The writers of the letters hold the copyrights to the letters. Whether any of them would be interested in a lawsuit is another matter.

I think if you don't use their real names (use possibly fake names) and change the wording a bit. As long as you aren't quoating someone verbatim they shouldn't have a problem, especially if you don't use their name. And if they do have a problem, that's something you'll have to deal with down the road. You could add a disclaimer in the beginning of a book and maybe even ask a lawyer what can be done to avoid any legal trouble. Good luck!

Once you write and post a letter, it becomes the property to the person you send it to. The person who receives the letter, can if they wish; make those letters public. This is not in anyway illegal. A second party will however need the permission of the person who received the letter to publish them. If there is a third party mentioned in the letter, he or she may sue for damages against the person who wrote the letter if it is in any way libellous,untrue or causes personal injury.
The moral of this post is: BE VERY CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU WRITE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE. IF SOMEONE DECIDES TO MAKE IT PUBLIC IT IS YOU WHO WILL END UP IN COURT; NOT THE PERSON WHO PUBLISHED IT !