The first round of the Arneson auction is basically over. The Arneson heirs seemingly abandoned his gaming material in a storage unit. The storage unit was purchased by a local action company who contacted The Dragon's Trove who teamed up with the Collector's Trove.
Exclusive: Auction Preview of D&D Co-Creator's Personal Collection and Archives
"But before you get too excited about bidding and winning some lost treasure and then making your first million by printing it and selling it on Amazon, Stormberg noted that the intellectual property of certain designs and manuscripts are still owned by Arnesons's heirs or others who worked on the projects with him. "If an original manuscript of this sort is to be auctioned, it will only be for the physical item itself not for any sort of claim to any IP. Owning a physical manuscript does not give one the rights to the IP within."
He said that even if the originals of such items are sold, a scan will be made so that their owners will have access to the material and whatever IP it might contain."
spshu: I don't know about that as pre-1977 or so anything not not published and registered with the Copyright Office is in the public domain, unless the Copyright Act of 1976 changed all that.
"Both Stormberg and Cox's companies will get commission, as is standard practice in auctions. Stormberg stressed that he plans to return certain personal family items to the heirs and to donate some materials to educational institutions. 'We also are looking into ways where the heirs may benefit from the development of IP or a portion of the proceeds from the auction.'"