and for a public purpose, are lawfully demanding of the
    telegraph companies an inspection of telegraph messages 
   in their files."
 
And, of course, the same result has been reached from the
very beginning where letters are required in connection
with regular judicial proceedings and the orderly
administration of justice. Barrett v. Fish (1899) 72 Vt.
18, 47 Atl. 174, 51 L.R.A. 754; Woolsey v. Judd, 4 Duer
(N.Y.) 379.
 
       3. The receiver of a letter may publish it in
self-vindication or justification. This exception is as
well established as the rule itself and is recognized by
all the authorities. 
 
                                         Publication
 
          Just as in the case of the common law right of
property in literary works, once a letter is published, it
is dedicated
to the public and at common law, the author no longer has
the exclusive right to make copies of it or to control the
subsequent publication by others. In other words, the author
of a letter has an exclusive right of property to control
its publication until by publication it becomes the
property of the general public. The only protection which
the author of the letter has after publication is such as
is afforded by the copyright statutes. Unless, therefore, a
letter is copyrighted, once it is published, it may be
republished by others in any form they may see fit. (34
Amer. Juris., Section 10).
 
                                          The F.D.R. Letters
 
             Thus, while the principles of law governing
letters are
clear enough, the proper application to the F.D.R. letters
presents
 
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