Hi all,

Here's a sticky wicket for the writing denizens ...(What's a wicket anyway? Why
is it sticky? Is this a cricket term? [too much bubble gum on the part of
players?] It is anything like a slider? Ok, enough...)  

The history:
My father served on a ship during the "Great War" in the Pacific;
he wrote a
diary this is quite Hemmingway-esque.  My mom and I have been collecting his
letters and some photos for a couple of years now, with the idea of compiling
all of this into a book & publishing it.  It's rather good. 

Unknown to us, he apparently gave a copy of his journal to his CO aboard ship
long ago...

Now, the problem: The shipmates & my father's CO have a copy of my father's
writing & the CO has edited (rather badly) my father's work into a little book,
they plan to distribute it in book form in a "biography" of the ship.  They
neglected to tell my mother, my father's widow (now owner of my father's work).
 My father put his "mark" and the words "all rights
reserved" and the date on
everything he wrote.  I maintain that this is copyrighted material and that he
intended -- one day -- to publish all of this under his name in a memoir. (He
did publish the odd article between postings.) I also maintain that it is still
under copyright and his heirs --us-- now own rights to his work and that this
project by his CO is a clear copyright invasion AND, as his CO plans to
"edit"
my father's work and publish it under his name, it is very close to plagiarism.
 AND, that just because he gave his shipmates a copy for a keepsake in
1940-some odd, it does not constitute permission to publish it - in any form.

Now, these guys are all in their eighties, and their book is a good idea, and
the family would be willing to help in the project, under fair use laws.  And,
so long as it doesn't usurp my mother's rights to the work and to publish it
ourselves *as my father wrote it* and intended for it to be read. 

Question: Am I right? Shall we call in the lawyers? I tend to think my father
is rolling in his grave ...there is a time issue, as they already have a
publisher interested...and, have no plans to ask my mother permission for
anything or share royalities or anythig else. Thanks, Lezlie

--- Rachel's Little NET2FIDO Gate v 0.9.9.8 Alpha