But if Gatsby is not in the public domain, who owns it? If Fitzgerald has no living heirs, who owns the property rights? These would normally transfer to the st

But if Gatsby is not in the public domain, who owns it? If Fitzgerald has no living heirs, who owns the property rights? These would normally transfer to the state of his heirs' residence at the time of their death like any other abandoned property. In the U.S. at least, intellectual property owned (as opposed to licensed) by states is in the public domain. So wouldn't Gatsby be in the public domain by this method, regardless of copyright? In other words, copyright is a property right, but when there is no one left to exercise that right, the property escheats to the state and thereby becomes property of all.