Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
[*]They are not, exactly, unpublished works; they are drafts of works that were later published in various places. However, the drafts were changed rather a lot for publication, and she knows there'd be interest in the earlier versions.[/LIST]
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This may make the issue more complicated. Even if the drafts were changed almost beyond recognition, the likelihood is that the copyright was granted jointly to the publisher (this is nearly always a condition of publication, unless the author is sufficiently well-known to be able to insist on their own terms). Thus, the publisher is likely to be joint holder of that copyright along with the author's heirs, and in most cases, the best place to start looking is generally with the publisher. It will almost certainly need to grant permission (assuming it still exists, and wishes to do so), and may have a record of who the copyright was to have been passed onto in the event of the author's death.