Unpublished novel by Pearl S. Buck found in storage unit.

This is an older story, but I don't think it has been mentioned on the forum yet.

An unpublished novel by Pearl S. Buck was found in a Fort Worth storage unit. It's a considerable find. The storage unit buyer sold it back to Buck's family for a small finder's fee.

This brings up  good question. If you purchase unpublished material in a storage unit auction, do you now own the rights to it?

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/06/06/4914083/unpublished-novel-by-pearl-s-buck.html

From my understanding the copywrite would be the original writer.  It doesn't have to be legally copywrited or even published.   It lasts for the authors life plus 70(?)  years if published, something like 120 from writing for unpublished. 

But this us for work after 1970-something.  Not sure about before that.

You can't loose a copywrite thru a lien auction because (even if original draft) the copywrite is the work, you don't have the work, you have paper with work on it.   Like intellectual property.

Now, the original draft itself might be worth some bucks.  You could always sell that, just not publish it. At least not as your own, or in persons name without permission from them or estate.

Disclaimer:  I don't know a thing about this topic and "facts" above are from memory and my interpretation.....which has no legal background to support it.   Commonly referred to as a "guess".

That's an amazing find and good for the buyer to recognize she found something truly valuable.  This is a case of everyone wins.  The family gets a piece of Buck back that they never knew existed and the buyer hopefully gets a good reward for the find.  The world gets a great novel.