Who can claim a copyright to old diaries, journals and letters?

Some of the most valuable documents for family history research consist
of diaries, journals and letters. From time to time, copyright issues
arise concerning these types of documents, especially if the text of the
documents or a facsimile is being published either online or in a
printed format. The first rule is that physical possession of the
documents does not confer any right to the copyright. I have found that
the possessor of the document usually incorrectly assumes that mere
possession confers other legal rights. In reality, upon a person's
death, any property interests the deceased possess passes immediately to
the deceased's estate. This is the case even if a formal probate does
not occur and no executor or personal representative is appointed. The
estate exists as a legal entity even if there is no formal involvement
of the court.

If the deceased person made a will (i.e. died testate), the property
interest in the documents, including any copyright interest, passes to
the beneficiaries of the will. If there is no will, i.e. the person died
intestate, then the property interest including any possible copyright
claims, pass to the heirs as determined by the intestate statutes in the
locality where the person died. You can see from this situation, that
determining the true or correct ownership of any copyright claims could
be really complicated and in some cases, likely impossible.

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