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This is huge, especially because of the 20-year freeze that just thawed. On Jan. 1, 2019, all books, movies, and music published in 1923 entered the public dom

by jawns 7y ago

This is huge, especially because of the 20-year freeze that just thawed. On Jan. 1, 2019, all books, movies, and music published in 1923 entered the public domain. It was the first time since the 1990s that anything new entered the public domain, because Congress had extended the length of copyright protection. If, as the article says, about 80 percent of books published between 1923 and 1964 are also in the public domain, then it's as if 40 years of creative works just came crashing through like a tidal wave to wipe out that 20-year draught! And perhaps even more important than free access to the works themselves is the ability to adapt and transform these works without restriction. Think about all of the characters from those books that can now become the stars of new stories! One thing worth pointing out, however, is that the 80 percent of books that did not have their copyright terms renewed are likely to be books that were not commercially successful, so their authors or designees had no strong financial interest in keeping the copyright protected. So don't expect to find many of the most famous works published during this period in the list. Nevertheless, I would not be surprised if there are some true gems that, for whatever reason, did not have their copyright terms renewed, and I'm excited to try to find them!

jcranmer 7y ago
Those books would have been in the public domain even before 2000. One of the good things about the 1976 copyright reform is that the copyright was simplified so that figuring out the copyright status merely requires you to know the death date of the author instead of trying to track down if various procedures were formally followed (I'd have preferred that it be a fixed term to make it even simpler, but it's still a simplification). To give you an idea of how complicated the older status can be, the copyright flowcharts that you see are basically a manifestation of "was this work copyrighted as of the copyright act taking effect?" (e.g., https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain). Eventually, when the copyright clock ticks down on the intermediate period (and assuming no other copyright acts get passed to retroactively lengthen those periods), the determination will boil down to "death of author plus 70 years, or 95 years from publishing, or 120 years from creation."
- benj111 7y ago
  "merely requires you to know the death date of the author" That's a pretty big merely! I can't tell you whether some obscure book is PD just by looking at the book. At worst you're basically working out when and if someone died just based on their name. Quick is Joe Blogs alive or dead? Then there's the question of who the author is. I believe theres been a court case over Anne Franks diaries and whether her father was an author. Edit: Maybe not a court case https://solargeneral.org/anne-frank-diary-co-authored-by-her-father/ https://solargeneral.org/anne-frank-diary-co-authored-by-her...
  - jcranmer 7y ago
    As I said, I'm not a fan of the "life plus N years" copyright term, but that's what the world has settled on (see Berne copyright convention--note that the life+50 is present at least as early as 1908, maybe as far back as 1886). In the US, the law essentially requires that copyright owners need to explicitly inform the Copyright Office of the author's death date, or at least of evidence that the author was alive at a given point of time. Without that evidence, there is a complete defense that the 95/120 term is in effect. (See https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/302 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/302).
bluGill 7y ago
Even commercially successful books often didn't get copyright renewed. Remember they were 25 years old at the time the renewal was needed - all but the most successful were out of print and nobody really expected them to get into print again. Even if they were in print, few were popular enough that anybody would actually make a copy what with the effort required to typeset things in those pre-computer days. (when typeset meant a Linotype machine)
sandworm101 7y ago
>> It was the first time since the 1990s that anything new entered the public domain First time that american books entered the american public domain. Other countries use different copyright lengths. Some american books entered public domain in those countries, even while they remain locked down in their home country (ie Gone with the Wind). And if one really wants to pick nits, there is actually a very steady flow of non-book things. Anything not subject to copyright/patent/trademark goes strait to public domain. A good example would be the constant stream of space-related stuff from nasa.

by jawns 7y ago

jcranmer 7y ago

Those books would have been in the public domain even before 2000. One of the good things about the 1976 copyright reform is that the copyright was simplified so that figuring out the copyright status merely requires you to know the death date of the author instead of trying to track down if various procedures were formally followed (I'd have preferred that it be a fixed term to make it even simpler, but it's still a simplification). To give you an idea of how complicated the older status can be, the copyright flowcharts that you see are basically a manifestation of "was this work copyrighted as of the copyright act taking effect?" (e.g., https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain). Eventually, when the copyright clock ticks down on the intermediate period (and assuming no other copyright acts get passed to retroactively lengthen those periods), the determination will boil down to "death of author plus 70 years, or 95 years from publishing, or 120 years from creation."

benj111 7y ago
"merely requires you to know the death date of the author" That's a pretty big merely! I can't tell you whether some obscure book is PD just by looking at the book. At worst you're basically working out when and if someone died just based on their name. Quick is Joe Blogs alive or dead? Then there's the question of who the author is. I believe theres been a court case over Anne Franks diaries and whether her father was an author. Edit: Maybe not a court case https://solargeneral.org/anne-frank-diary-co-authored-by-her-father/ https://solargeneral.org/anne-frank-diary-co-authored-by-her...
- jcranmer 7y ago
  As I said, I'm not a fan of the "life plus N years" copyright term, but that's what the world has settled on (see Berne copyright convention--note that the life+50 is present at least as early as 1908, maybe as far back as 1886). In the US, the law essentially requires that copyright owners need to explicitly inform the Copyright Office of the author's death date, or at least of evidence that the author was alive at a given point of time. Without that evidence, there is a complete defense that the 95/120 term is in effect. (See https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/302 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/302).

bluGill 7y ago

Even commercially successful books often didn't get copyright renewed. Remember they were 25 years old at the time the renewal was needed - all but the most successful were out of print and nobody really expected them to get into print again. Even if they were in print, few were popular enough that anybody would actually make a copy what with the effort required to typeset things in those pre-computer days. (when typeset meant a Linotype machine)

sandworm101 7y ago

>> It was the first time since the 1990s that anything new entered the public domain First time that american books entered the american public domain. Other countries use different copyright lengths. Some american books entered public domain in those countries, even while they remain locked down in their home country (ie Gone with the Wind). And if one really wants to pick nits, there is actually a very steady flow of non-book things. Anything not subject to copyright/patent/trademark goes strait to public domain. A good example would be the constant stream of space-related stuff from nasa.