I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand this was his wish, but on the other hand I am sure that future generations of pratchettologists will mourn the loss.
He didn't want to destroy his work whilst he could still work. But if he waits too long and misses the opportunity to take action whilst in good health he may lose control over it. Without the other limiting factors - this feels like a very easy call. I'm thrilled that he trusted people to see his wishes through - and as importantly that they've shown themselves to be deserving of said trust
Presidential diaries would be another example, or a CEO's Rolodex.
Both retention and publication go against the wishes of the deceased, but I would see putting them in the Vatican Archives for a few researchers to peruse as a lesser transgression than putting them in a book for all to see.
I agree with you that there is probably a legal or moral requirement to retain the notes of Pope John Paul II, and that may override his personal wishes (though, again, in an archive, rather than in all good bookshops).
You are also correct that it may be difficult, or even impossible to separate JP2's notes from Karol Wojtyla's notes after 1978, but what about before? Are the notes of Bishop of Ombi or the Archbishop of Krakow also as important? How far back does the corporate entanglement go?
In any case, the question of why it is that way doesn't much matter for this particular question. Regardless of why copyright applies to a dead guy's works, it does.
That may depend on whether they are John Paul II's notes (and the Bishop of Ombi's etc.) or Karol Wojtyla's. And whether the published work belongs to The Church or to Dziwisz.
I wonder if, around 100 years from now, that would create a tontine type scenario.
Re Terry's opinion on 'pratchettologists', may I point you to the following in the Pratchett Quote File: https://www.lspace.org/books/pqf/alt-fan-pratchett.html
"I save about twenty drafts -- that's ten meg of disc space -- and the last one contains all the final alterations. Once it has been printed out and received by the publishers, there's a cry here of 'Tough shit, literary researchers of the future, try getting a proper job!' and the rest are wiped."
-- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)
"I save about twenty drafts — that's ten meg of disc space — and the last one contains all the final alterations. Once it has been printed out and received by the publishers, there's a cry here of 'Tough shit, literary researchers of the future, try getting a proper job!' and the rest are wiped."
On one hand, as a long time Pratchett fan, it would be interesting to see what ideas he was working on (I'll miss many of his characters), on the other hand and looking at other examples (cough, cough, Tolkien, cough), I prefer his legacy to be what it is today.
As for Tolkien, I'm quite happy that the Silmarillion got published.
Update: just read loopbit's response to the same post. Good point.
These materials include quite a few interesting research angles: draft manuscripts of published works, unpublished stories, other ephemera including letters, & biographies by other authors.
I live in an unincorporated township, with just a few residents. My road would never get plowed or maintained.
A group (say, of castaways on a desert island) can easily afford to have 99% of people donate 1% of their output to support a 1% of their population that was paralyzed in the crash, and most would prefer not to watch that 1% die of neglect. But individually, no one can give 100% of their output to that 1%.
Left to their own devices and anonymous, people will slowly opt out of the voluntary contribution, and the situation will be worse than what everyone wanted. Unless the group has some means of compelling everyone to contribute.
I'd rather live in a society where everyone (including myself) was forced to contribute, than a society in which no one was. Living in a society in which everyone else happens to contribute to the things you'd like, while you don't have to contribute, is not an option that's on the table.
It might not be a stretch to say that future generations would have the technology to recover the data, if past trends are any indication:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-scrolls-blacke...
As far as physical destruction goes, this isn't even that extreme.
Would it generate new Discworld stories, or would it rip a portal into the Dungeon Dimensions releasing the eldritch horrors that dwell within?
Also that drive is old and I am suspicious that is the only copy, or that the novels we're there anyway. Seems likely Pratchett destroyed them already and this was symbolic.