## Facts

- Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) wrote an unpublished story, *A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage*, in 1876 and discussed possible publication and alternative endings with an editor, but the plan was not pursued.
- The story was never published during Twain’s lifetime, and when he died in 1910 the manuscript was not among his effects.
- In 1945, Feldman bought the original handwritten Twain manuscript at a New York City auction from the collection of a third party whose possession history was unknown.
- Feldman asked Twain’s literary successors (plaintiffs) for permission to publish; permission was refused.
- Feldman nevertheless published the story and obtained a federal copyright registration without plaintiffs’ authorization.
- Plaintiffs sued to enjoin further reproduction/publication and to require cancellation of Feldman’s purported copyright.

## Issues

1. Whether there was sufficient proof that Twain, during his lifetime, transferred publication rights (common-law copyright) in the unpublished manuscript so that those rights later passed to Feldman.
2. Whether ownership and possession of an unpublished manuscript, without proof of an unrestricted transfer, carries the right to publish and reproduce the work.
3. Whether Feldman’s unauthorized publication supported injunctive relief and cancellation of his copyright registration.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed judgment for plaintiffs.
- The court held the weight of the evidence supported findings that Twain never transferred publication rights in the unpublished work.
- Feldman acquired only the physical manuscript, not the intangible right to publish or reproduce it.
- Feldman was enjoined from publishing or reproducing the story and was directed to cancel the purported copyright registration.

## Legal Principles

- Ownership of a physical manuscript is distinct from the common-law right to publish and reproduce an unpublished literary work.
- Common-law publication rights remain with the author (and successors) unless there is clear, affirmative proof of a transfer of those rights.
- Later possession or sale of a manuscript, standing alone, does not justify presuming an unrestricted transfer of publication rights.
- An “unrestricted transfer” may carry publication rights only when such a transfer is proven; it cannot be inferred merely from the manuscript’s disappearance from the author’s estate or its later appearance in another’s collection.
- A purchaser lacking publication rights cannot validly acquire statutory copyright by unilaterally publishing and registering the work.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that Feldman’s auction purchase conveyed the manuscript as an object but did not convey Twain’s common-law right to publish the unpublished story; absent proof of a transfer of publication rights, plaintiffs were entitled to an injunction and cancellation of Feldman’s claimed copyright.


Chamberlain v. Feldman, 300 N.Y. 135, 89 N.E.2d 863 (N.Y. 1949)