Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Copyright information

In general, a "fact" cannot be copyrighted. So nobody could assert copyright to prevent an author from ascertaining certain facts, including who died from gunshot incidents, and then writing about it, as long as the author does not appropriate the copyrighted "expression" used by the source of the information.

Another factor to be considered are principles of law involving the "right of privacy" and, for famous people, the "right of publicity." Whether these rights are violated by a writing about gunshot deaths would depend on exactly what's said. In most instances I can imagine, I wouldn't think that the author would be violating any such rights. However, it might be wise to show your text to a lawyer before publishing it, if you have any questions in this regard.