Letters and statements of facts (eg. finance records) don't have copyright associated with them in the way that a book or literary work does. Likewise if certain documents are filed in a lawsuit, these become public domain.
It is true that basic information, for example a list of numbers, can’t be copyrighted, but the way facts are presented can still be subject to copyright. It is not the case that descriptions of facts can’t be copyrighted. Documents that become public record do not automatically fall into public domain, i.e., you can’t start selling copies of someone else’s copyrighted work just because the document was used in a court case.
If WTBTS claims copyright, then it admits that it has authored those documents, which is why they don't claim copyright on for example, the elder manual but they do on for example any other publication they have ever made.
This claim about the Watch Tower Society not claiming copyright over the ‘elder’s manual’ is entirely false. Where the entire book has been copied, they have had it removed from sites. However they would have no case where a snippet of the book is used along with commentary, which is fair use. Publication information is explicitly stated in the book.
