Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Who owns the sentiment in a love letter?

Love letters often outlive the feelings they contain. After hearing from an old flame, Christine Manby explores what happens when they come back to haunt you

Monday 23 August 2021 00:01 BST
Comments
<p>Who owns the copyright of a love letter? The writer or the recipient? </p>

Who owns the copyright of a love letter? The writer or the recipient?

In the summer of 1527, that notorious romantic Henry VIII wrote to young Anne Boleyn: “My mistress and friend, my heart and I surrender ourselves into your hands, beseeching you to hold us commended to your favour…” Henry goes on to describe the pain of their being apart – he was at this time still married to the long-suffering Catherine of Aragon – and encloses his “picture set in a bracelet” so that Anne might not forget him. Well, we all know how that turned out. Poor Anne lost her head and that ancient love letter – along with 17 others in more or less the same vein – is now in the possession of the Vatican Library. Possibly not what Henry imagined when he put quill pen to parchment in the throes of early love.

These days, we’re more likely to send an email than walk to the nearest post box but there’s still something about a handwritten letter that adds a certain solemnity to the feelings expressed therein. So what happens when the letter itself long outlives the sentiments scribbled upon it? Particularly when those sentiments have the potential to embarrass the sender? Or even the receiver?

As the internet increases its grip on our daily lives, we’re all more aware of the dangers of putting our thoughts out into the digital ether. An email, once it lands in the recipient’s in-box, might be forwarded and reproduced many thousands of times with a couple of clicks or have phrases cut and pasted and taken out of context. So, is it any safer to commit thoughts to paper and ink?

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in