I am crying with laughter here, which I know I shouldn't be.
As Tim says, take legal advice.
One has to question the judgement of someone who would write a story using a
ledger of this type, and then write on pages already used - or this integral
to the story?
Could you not simply advise the author to write the story in another book
and dispose of the existing one carefully?
Simon Howarth.
-----Original Message-----
From: Graeme Hawley [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 24 February 2006 13:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [data-protection] Personal data found in skips
A classic Friday afternooner (and unfortunately a real case, rather than a
theoretical scenario).
We have a manuscripts collection of a particular author, and whenever items
come up for sale, we buy them. The author is in the process of selling us
a manuscript that he has written. But he didn't write his story in a
normal exercise book or jotter. Rather, he was passing a skip being used
by builders, and saw a ledger in the skip, and fished it out. The ledger
has the names of all of the builders, the companies they work for, their
signatures agian and again, and the times and dates that they clocked in
and out. He took the ledger home and wrote his story in it. Now, in
addition to the original builders' names and signatures, the book contains
the author's story. For added measure, the author has written on pages
that contained the original personal data, as well as the blank pages. If
we purchase this, any member of the public will be able to read the
original ledger, including the builders' details and signatures.
Are we in receipt of stolen goods? Is the fault really with the building
contractor for irresponsible storage / disposal of information? Should we
contact the named individuals and ask for their consent to make this
publicly available? Would redacting the ledger be an infringement of the
author's rights?
Any thoughts?
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