I have copyright of a precious notebook that its thief bequeathed to a museum that refuses to give me back the notebook. What is my recourse?
<p>The museum does not dispute that this historically important notebook belongs to my family. Nor does it dispute how it came into the thieving family's hands. In correspondence the museum offers a &quot;finders keepers&quot; argument, knowing full well it cannot display or make copies of this notebook without my permission. It is in effect, holding it hostage pending my agreeing to grant copyright (which I will never do). In the current situation no one can see, study or benefit from this notebook's immense importance. Have I any recourse?</p>

<h2>You likely have no legal recourse</h2>
<p>Your copyright claim is irrelevant and your title claim is likely statute barred.</p>
<p>It is a little unclear exactly what is going on here so I will state my understanding and answer on this basis.</p>
<ol>
<li>There is a historic artifact (the notebook) that contains words and possibly pictures made by someone, now deceased, who was a relation of yours.</li>
<li>You believe that in the normal course of inheritance, that notebook should have become a possession of yours or others in your near family.</li>
<li>At some point in the (distant?) past the notebook came into the possession of another family.</li>
<li>The museum acquired the item from someone in this family; I will assume in good faith - that is, without knowing about your claim to it.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Copyright</h2>
<p>You say you have &quot;copyright of a precious notebook&quot; - this is not true. Any copyright you might have is in the words and drawings in the notebook - they give you no claim to the notebook itself. The distinction here might be illustrated by considering the words of the Declaration of Independence (which are available for the Googling) and the <em>actual</em> engrossed copy held in the National Archives.</p>
<p>Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights that attach to literary and artistic expression once placed in a tangible form. The notebook is the tangible form but it is the words and pictures that the copyright subsists in.</p>
<p>Assuming that you own the copyright that does not give you any right over the physical notebook; it only gives you rights to prevent or allow copies or derivative works to be made and only to the extent that those uses are not permitted by copyright law.</p>
<p>Based solely on copyright, you could not prevent the museum from displaying the notebook (as an artifact without displaying the copyrighted words), including photographs of it in catalogues or on their website, or even reproducing small parts of it for educational purposes.</p>
<p>In any event, copyright only lasts for a set period of time. The exact details depend on which nation's law the copyright was originally created and sometimes when. The US is particularly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_in_the_United_States" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tricky</a> here but other <a href="https://www.copyright.com.au/about-copyright/duration/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">nations</a> can also make things challenging. In addition, when suing for copyright infringement, the laws of the nation where the infringing copy is produced are also relevant.</p>
<h2><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_(property)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Title</a></h2>
<p>Title is the legal term for the bundle of rights that we commonly think of as ownership of property. For our purposes we are going to limit ourselves to just these:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>possession</strong>: who physically has the property whether they have a right to it or not.</li>
<li><strong>right of possession</strong>: who has the legal right to be in possession, whether they presently have it or not</li>
<li><strong>right or property</strong>: is the right which, if all relevant facts are known (and allowed), defeats all other claims</li>
</ol>
<p>These exist in a hierarchy - 3 beats everyone, 2 beats everyone but 3, and 1 beats everyone but 2 or 3. Often these rights are possessed by a single person - when I'm driving my car I have possession, I have the right of possession, and I have the right of property. When I take my car to the mechanic and it gets stolen - the thief has possession, the mechanic has the right of possession, and I have the right of property.</p>
<p>Here the museum has possession of the notebook - which gives them the best claim so far. To defeat that, you would need to be able to prove that you either have a right of possession or a right of property.</p>
<p>This is not as easy as it sounds.</p>
<p>To do this thoroughly, you would need to prove that the original author had one of these rights in the notebook - that he didn't steal it, or buy it from somebody who stole it, or that it wasn't made with stolen paper, or stolen glue etc. This could be presumed unless someone had evidence to contest it. Then you would need to prove that the notebook should have come to you through gift or purchase.</p>
<p>This is particularly troublesome. Let's assume that this notebook originally belonged to your great-grandfather (that is he had all three rights above) and, when he passed, he had three surviving children. Unless he specifically willed it to one of those children (or the cat's home) then the three children will inherit the right of property and the right of possession collectively. Of course, unless they share a house, only one of those children can actually possess it. Then each of those children has 3 surviving children; when all three pass on, those 9 will own it collectively - and so on.</p>
<p>Now, because this becomes such a bloody mess, governments have passed statutes of limitations that draw a line in how far back people can go in pursuing these claims against the person in possession. These limits vary by jurisdiction but ranges of 2-10 years are typical; they may sometimes be extended in exceptional circumstances by the courts.</p>
<p>So, when the other family took possession of the notebook, the clock started running for your family to file a claim to get it back. Unless this happened within say, the last half-decade, you basically have no legal recourse.</p>

<p>Possession of stolen property is a crime in all states, and at the minimum violates <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.56&amp;full=true#9A.56.170" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RCW 9A.56.170</a> if the property &quot;does not exceed seven hundred fifty dollars in value&quot; (it's a more serious crime if it is worth more than that). Possessing stolen property is defined as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>knowingly to receive, retain, possess, conceal, or dispose of stolen
property knowing that it has been stolen and to withhold or
appropriate the same to the use of any person other than the true
owner or person entitled thereto.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By your description, the museum knows that the notebook in their possession was not transferred to them legally, unless you are omitting important factual details such as whether there is a dispute over who holds title to the object. Your lawyer could presumably use that fact to reach a satisfactory resolution of the problem.</p>

<p>The museum has currently physical control of the notebook. Legal ownership of this artifact will depend on when and where it was stolen, when and where it 'resurfaced' again, and when and where the claim was made. Note the large number of artworks <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/looted-art" rel="nofollow noreferrer">stolen by the Nazis</a>, and the long road to legal recognition.</p>
<p>Somebody may or may not own the copyright. This depends, mostly, on the time of death of the author. When this expires exactly is again a question of national law, but there is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Berne convention</a> to try and harmonize things.</p>
<p>Even if you do hold the copyright, there are usually exceptions for use in a scientific context, again with details depending on national law. The US has <em>fair use</em>, others have similar but different doctrines.</p>
<p>You characterize the situation as 'theft' and 'holding the notebook hostage.' I expect that the museum <strong>believes</strong> that it has <strong>some</strong> but not all rights, and now offers a settlement to you. How fair their offer is depends very much on national legislation where you are.</p>

copyright theft