Hmm... it turns out I was wrong.
The European Union rules are pretty much the same as the UK rules, as they're all based on the same EU directive, implemented by each nation's particular copyright laws.
Article 4 of the current EU directive says:
Article 4
Protection of previously unpublished works
Any person who, after the expiry of copyright protection, for the first time lawfully publishes or lawfully communicates to the public a previously unpublished work, shall benefit from a protection equivalent to the economic rights of the author. The term of protection of such rights shall be 25 years from the time when the work was first lawfully published or lawfully communicated to the public.
So we had the rather odd situation that a work can be unpublished and in the public domain, but that the first person to publish it gains a 25 year copyright on it.
NB this is unpublished - not just out-of-print, so there's no "get another 25 years" possibility here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellby
So, a work published 71 years after the author's death would be instantly public domain?
I think it would be more logical to have a combination of both rules. Does anyone know how it is in Canada or the rest of the European Union?
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