David Wilson wrote "I'm not sure who would possess ownership..."
The question is owns what? For most letters the value is in the information
conveyed and the commercial value if any probably lies in the copyright.
Copyright in letters rests with the originator and there can be an actionable
breach of confidence if a letter containing information imparted in confidence
is disclosed. (There are quite a few cases supporting this but for a recent
discussion see Cembrit Blunn v Apex Roofing [2007]).
I suppose if a letter was written bya very famous person then there could be a
value in the letter as property but the originator could still bring an action for
breach of confidence if the contents of the letter were disclosed when the
intended recipient was deceased.
rgds,
kevin Broadfoot
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