http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

Susan, the above is a link to a page that provides guidelines for 
understanding copyright basics.  More information on copyright can be gleaned from the 
archives of the Archives & Archivists listserv.  Be aware that novice archivists 
don't understand many of the questions and answers, and in many cases the 
answer is not clear-cut.  My suggestion would be to examine the postings from 
Peter Hirtle at Cornell's digital program.  He stays on top of the issues and 
follows them closely.  

My understanding of your post is that this is a diary that has never been 
published.  

_If_ it is still under copyright, then copyright is the creator, unless 
designated otherwise by the creator.  So unless the writer of the diary specified 
that the copyright (or perhaps "all other rights") were being given to the 
museum when the deed of gift was drawn up, the copyright would still belong to the 
author.  Unfortunately, deeds of gift, where they existed in the early 
twentieth century, tended to be somewhat casual and did not address these issues.

The diary may have passed into the public domain.  To determine this you will 
need the death date of the diary's author.  If the author has been dead for 
seventy years or more then the diary is now in the public domain.  If it should 
be in the public domain, the diary may be published by anyone, including the 
museum.  If it is public domain and the  museum wants to protect its interests 
it should be aware that the text of the diary may not be copyrighted.  What 
can be copyrighted are notes, forewards, introductions, epilogues, etc. added 
by the museum.  

There are a great many issues to be addressed here and I would encourage you 
to please review Peter H's suggested links. The A&A archives may be found at 
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Holly Wilhelm Mills
Central Virginia

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