Does copyright law protect unpublished, archival works?
Copyright law protects both published and unpublished works. Indeed, courts have recognized what is known as an author’s right of “first publication” and have held that the unpublished state of a work weighs against a finding of a “fair use.” In general, scholarly research involving the use of quotations from letters and/or archival materials – where the letters/materials will not be reproduced in full – is not considered “publication” and would ordinarily be considered a “fair use.
