Once a government record, always a government record.

On Sat, 27 Oct 2001, Ian McGiver wrote:

> 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
>

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Wayne L. Miller                         Special Collections Librarian
Feinberg Library                        2 Draper Avenue
518-564-5206                            Plattsburgh, NY 12901
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        "I wonder what will happen today!"  -Maggie Muggins-
"Not even God can change history...which is why he tolerates historians."
                                        -Voltaire
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