From: Rabbi Moshe Sofer
To: Rabbi Itzik
A man died leaving real estate purchased from a non-Jewish lord under a thirty-two-year royal decree, after which the land reverts; the question is whether this land counts as "real estate" excluded from daughters' claims under the shtar chatzi zachar. The Chasam Sofer rules that if the non-Jew has abandoned hope of redemption and the buyer can renew the term through ma'arufya rights, the land retains its status as real estate and is excluded from the daughters' claim, leaving the final determination to the local judge. He also upholds the traditional exclusion of books from the shtar chatzi zachar despite arguing that the rationale no longer applies in the age of printing, on the grounds that established custom must be maintained.
Source: Shu"t Chasam Sofer EH II §168