"Is this not the buying of votes any more, but of history?"

Kennedy history for sale - The Boston Globe
Quirky international copyright laws, and an interesting twist by the Kennedy clan.

In the case of literary giants such as James Joyce -- whose grandson is halting even public readings of ``Ulysses," according to his whim -- this is a nightmare. In the case of non-creative personalities who, nevertheless, have had a prominent role in history (good or bad), it produces an educational disgrace. For 70 years after a person's death, every word he or she uttered will be literally owned by his surviving family -- who can then either impose silence on historians, or give access and copyright permission to those who can be counted upon to cast their ancestor in a good light.