4 ms·
>Tom Lehrer releases song lyrics to public domain Wrong. An author (or heirs) cannot put creative works in the public domain. There is nothing in the statute
by athms 6y ago
>Tom Lehrer releases song lyrics to public domain
Wrong.
An author (or heirs) cannot put creative works in the public domain. There is nothing in the statute that allows this. Only after the expiration of the copyright does the work go into public domain.
Copyright stays with the author (or heirs) and is subject to license termination after 35 years. This would mean the declaration of "use freely" can be revoked. Which is why these works cannot treated as if they are in the public domain.
- fortran77 6y agoAgreed. But don't expect the people on Hacker News, who don't "believe" in intellectual property, to get this right. A better title would be: "Tom Lehrer publishes his songs and lyrics online and states that they can be freely used."
- thyrsus 6y agoI am aware of a written work on which the author inscribed "Copyright (C) <year> <organization>" and as best I can tell <organization> was fictional, and thus incapable of enforcing any terms of the copyright. What is your opinion as to what would happen if someone attempted to claim that copyright? It looks like a pretty brilliant hack to me.
- athms 6y agoIrrespective of what is printed on the artistic work, the copyright is automatic (from 1976 onward) and belongs to the author(s) or their heirs. If there is a question of ownership, a court would need to decide.
- thyrsus 6y agoOrganizations own work-for-hire, and to establish ownership, you would need to prove the non-existence of the organization (reverting the copyright to the author/heirs) or determine the beneficiaries of a possibly ephemeral organization.
- mjcohen 6y agoBut they are.