H. P. Lovecraft's literary executor died in 1951, his papers went to August Derleth, and no court has settled who owns his copyrights

H. P. Lovecraft died of cancer in Providence in 1937, aged 46, known mostly to readers of pulp magazines. He had named a young admirer, Robert H. Barlow, his literary executor. Barlow placed Lovecraft papers at Brown University. August Derleth and Donald Wandrei founded Arkham House in 1939 to publish the work, and Wandrei left for war service, leaving Derleth as sole owner. Derleth's authority rested partly on an agreement with Lovecraft's aunt Annie Gamwell, which was to run until her death in 1941. Barlow died in 1951, and Derleth received remaining Lovecraft material from him. Derleth died in 1971, and a probate court dealt only with how he and Wandrei had held Lovecraft properties jointly. It expressly did not decide copyright. A blog account says a later settlement gave Wandrei 53 percent and the Derleth estate 47 percent^†. Commentators writing in 2011 argued that the chain of renewals and transfers to Arkham House was never proven and that the works may be in the public domain. Biographer S. T. Joshi credits Derleth with keeping the work in print and criticizes his editing. No court ruling on ownership of Lovecraft's copyrights is documented in 2026^†.