Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
"Publication" is a well-defined concept. For example, in the EU we have the concept of a "typographical copyright" (which I don't think exists in the US). This is protection for a particular "layout" of a work, and has a non-extendable 25 year term from the date of initial publication.
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"Publication" was well-defined before personal computers & the internet.
What's the publication date of a (hypothetical) essay that I
(1) wrote on my computer in July 2006,
(2) sent to a select group of friends by email in August 2006,
(3) posted to a blog community only readable by subscribers in January 2007,
(4) posted to a public online forum in April,
(5) had printed in a convention program book in February 2008,
(6) had printed in a paid fanzine in January 20009,
(7) published in an ebook of "Elfwreck's Collected Essays" at Smashwords in March 2010?
Does each of those version contain a 25-year "layout" copyright--and if so, what does that cover? Does a printout of the locked blog post count as a violation of the layout copyright? If someone saves the post as an html file and opens it in notepad, and prints that, does it violate the layout copyright?
The concept of "layout copyright" comes from the notion that publication is a fixed format that looks the same to all viewers.
I'm aware that this means that copyright based on "publication date" is more than a bit of a mess, too. Date of author's death, while possibly not available, is at least *fixed.* That part is simpler; I just don't think that simplicity overrides the good of supplying public access to the millions of abandoned and orphaned books that *could* be reprinted, translated, made into movies or songs, or used as background for new works, if picking up a book would let you *know* if it was in the public domain.
If the rule were "publication + 50," than a book published in 1960 is available for use. Possibly, a book published in 1975 is available because it's a reprint; you might have to track that down. But you know when a book is certainly available, which is much easier than trying to figure out "who is this author really and when did he/she die?"