Do I need permission to use unpublished manuscript material from the 1920s in my thesis or publication?

In the UK, copyright in published literary works lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years.

For unpublished literary works, the position depends on when the author died. If the author died on or after 1 January 1969, or is still living, copyright also lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years.

However, if the work is unpublished and the author died before 1 January 1969, special transitional rules may apply. Copyright would last until a fixed date: 31 December 2039. This means that you would normally need the permission of the current copyright owner before reproducing the material. For unpublished works, the copyright owner may be the author's estate or heirs, so some research may be needed to identify the rightsholder.

Different rules apply to some categories of material, such as photographs, or where the author is unknown. For more information, see the National Archives copyright duration chart and the UK Intellectual Property Office's guidance on copyright.

Copyright is territorial, so the applicable rules may differ from one country to another. If your work will be published or made available outside the UK, you should also consider the copyright law of the relevant countries.