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April 07, 2007

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D. Hawver

"Of course, any book printed before 1950 needed to be renewed some time between 1950 and 1977 to protect its copyright status. As a result, any book printed in the U.S. before those years and not listed in this database is now in the public domain."

What about books published after 1923 but before 1950, which were renewed in 1949? How long did the renewal last?

ClaireK

D.-

You're confusing publication date and renewal date. Under the pre-1978 (aka the 1909) US Copyright Law, there was an initial term of copyright and a renewal term; the length of those terms varied over the years, but by the time the new law came into effect on Jan. 1, 1978, the first term was 28 years (and renewal was 47 years, for a total of 75 years) and the copyright registration had to be renewed during its last year. So a work published in 1923 would have been renewed in 1950 (hence the beginning date of this database). To be renewed in 1949, a work would have had to have been published in 1922, and it would have passed into the public domain in 1997. (Anything first published in the US before 1923 is now in the public domain).

If you meant a book PUBLISHED (not renewed) in 1949, its first term would have been 28 years (expired 1977 unless renewed in 1976), renewal term 47 years (2024). The same 28/47 terms would apply to any work published until 1963 -- so a 1963 work would have a first term of protection through 1991 (renewable in 1990), renewal term through 2038. There were (I believe) some extensions for late renewals, so the Sanford / LOC data contains renewals received through 1993. In other words, this database contains all relevant renewals for US-published books that are still under copyright protection.

Non-book items and foreign publications are another issue, as are unpublished works before 1978.

FYI, Works published in the US between 1964 and 1977 are protected for 95 years from publication (no renewals necessary). Works CREATED (does not require publication) between 1978 to present are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years.

Hope that helps.
Claire K.

Dick Eastman

The information on when copyrights expire for the different years of creation/renewal are covered in great depth in the U.S. Copyright Office's brochure "How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work (Circular 22)." That publication is the definitive guide, published by the agency that enforces the rules.

There is a lot of mis-information about copyrights floating around the web. The U.S. Copyright Office's brochure "How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work (Circular 22)" is the one resource that I would believe.

You can read "How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work (Circular 22)" at http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.html .

Ifor Jackson

Don't forget that this is U.S copyright law. Other countries have different rules

Denise W.

What about Italian copyright law? Does anyone know the laws about that?

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