Hello
        I have a question regarding the private sale of public records. I
think
that this issue has been discussed in the past on the list. So I
apologize if I am repeating a previous question.
        Over the past several
months I have noticed a few public records
being sold on EBAY. These included an item that was purported to be the
official town records of a New York State town dating to the 1830s; in
addition, recently I have seen mid-nineteenth-century court records and
an election "register" for sale.
        My question is, what is the legal status of these sales? Do the
relevant governments, for example, the town in the case of the  town
records, have
any legal claim on these documents? Or are they simply private property?


Thanks
Ian McGiver