Who Owns Literature

If a person finds an item, does that really make them the owner? In this particular novel Pete finds two unpublished novels written by the author Rothstein. Pete struggles with the choice to sell the manuscripts for profit or donate them. Meanwhile, Morris claims “ownership” of the manuscripts because he stole them from the author. Although King offers suggestions about the ultimate ownership of literature, he leaves the final decision up to the reader.

One conclusion to which the reader can come about the ownership of literature, particularly Rothstein’s manuscripts, is that since Pete found these works he is the owner. The novel’s title, Finders Keepers, plays off the childhood taunt “finders keepers, losers weepers,” indicating the person who finds an object has the right to claim ownership. In this case since Pete found the manuscripts, basically abandoned since they had been...