Ultimately it depends upon whether parts of the autobiography were published after 1923. Those parts that were not published after 1923 would be in the public d

Ultimately it depends upon whether parts of the autobiography were published after 1923. Those parts that were not published after 1923 would be in the public domain. And those that were published after 1980 would be as well (he died in 1910 + 70). That said, publishers slap copyright notices all the time on works in the public domain. They cover things like the foreward, introduction, cover, etc. See this complex chart if you'd like, uh, more clarity: http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm But this is once again one of those "copyright law is a mess" scenarios.