Dorothy,
I think that unless your mother's letters to Mrs A. expressly stated on each occasion that the matter contained in them was offered in confidence, no legal duty of confidentiality would have been placed on Mrs A.
I have experience of a somewhat similar situation, where the tape recordings and transcripts of oral history interviews of a folk singer reached Birmingham City Archives among the papers of the interviewer. The son of the interviewee learned of the existence of the tapes and was provided with access to the transcripts. He found the contents deeply upsetting, and probably defamatory. We discussed the matter with the Trust that had deposited the tapes and transcripts with us, and it was agreed to prohibit public access to this material indefinitely. When the son of the interviewee died, we contacted his children, who came and read the transcripts, and (I am pleased to say) found them fascinating records of their grandmother's life, and agreed to waive the need for restrictions on access.
In another case, a living poet has donated his diaries and literary papers to us, including a great deal of material relating to his sex life and his relationships with his two (successive!) wives. He wanted all of his papers to be open for public scrutiny, and was keen to give the archive to the City Council rather than deposit it, so that his children could not subsequently withdraw and destroy embarrassing material. We felt that we should be placed in an intolerable position if we agreed to this combination of conditions (particularly as one of the ex-wives is a regular user of the City Archives!), and we eventually agreed to accept the archive as a donation if he agreed that we could apply an closure period of 50 years to material that we judged to be sensitive. This puts the onus on the archive to determine appropriate restrictions, in a way that I would not choose, but it appeared to be the best resolution of a difficult situation. I certainly didn't want to turn the archive away!
In your example, I feel the archive holding Mrs A.'s papers should be willing to represent to her your concerns about free access to your mother's letters, and be willing to press her to agree to restrictions for your lifetime, or at least for a defined period. But you probably have no right to insist on this.
Nick Kingsley
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From: Dorothy Sheridan
Sent: 04 December 1998 10:07
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Copyright and control of private letters
Could I please ask for advice about the following
hypothetical scenario?
>From 1964 to 1968, my mother (who is now dead) wrote
some letters to a close personal friend of hers (Mrs
A). These letters contained many confidences, and could
be embarrassing for people who are still alive (eg me)
if they were read by other people.
Mrs A is now famous and has donated all her
personal papers, including my mothers letters, to an
archive. As my mother's heir, I hold the copyright but
since I do not own the letters, do I have any rights
about their being made accessible in a public archive?
Advice please.
Dorothy Sheridan
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Dorothy Sheridan
Archivist
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.sussex.ac.uk/library/massobs
Mass-Observation Archive Tel: 01273 678157
University of Sussex Library Fax: 01273 678441
Brighton BN1 9QL, UK.
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