[Oklahoma] My 16 year old brother passed away recently. He had finished a novel and his school wants to help my family publish the novel. What steps should my family take to ensure we retain control?

My younger brother passed away suddenly 2 weeks ago today. He was 16 and had finished writing a novel recently. His school (online school K-12 program) wants to get the novel published. My parents are all for it, but I told them that before we send them a copy and say go for it, we need to protect our rights to the book.

My family wants to use the theoretical money to help fund a scholarship that we’ve already started at a local college. I’m sure this (my brother’s) school has nothing but the best intentions, but I’d hate to see my parents lose out on a chance to do something really great in my brother’s memory over a technicality or a company trying to exploit us. It would be like losing my little brother twice and we cannot handle another soul crushing event as a group.

I figure we start with getting the copyright to the book but I don’t know where to start and don’t want to inadvertently fuck it up before we get started.

Thank y’all in advance.

Written By: GodoggoJeff
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