Who owns the copyright to pictures and letters of the mid 1920's thru the 1970's? I am in possession of many pictures and family letters - literally hundreds of them. The letters were written by my parents, grandparents and several aunts and uncles. Most were written by my mother. All writers are deceased. Some of the letters were given to me by parents at different times before they died. Others were in the house when Mom died. Dad died before her. The pictures were, for the most part, given to me by my parents before their death. I was the administrator of Mom's estate. None of the other heirs wanted the letters. I was pleased to have them. Each heir took the usual things from the house after Mom died - some furniture, dishes, an old truck and etc. Also, there are many pictures of family, homes, and other interesting things which tell a lot about our family. I would like to use excerpts from the letters and write a lengthy chronology of our family. I don't want to do this unless it can be shared with all the family and without legal problems on the copyright. I will only the parts that would not embarrass anyone. My question is: who owns the copyright on the letters and the pictures. I believe I own the letters since some were given to me and others were inherited - but do I own the copyright? I believe this is an unusual collection since there are so very many letters - literally hundreds! Thanks for any help you can give me. Mary