Quote:
Originally Posted by osnova
If the author is out of copyright in his native country, I guess he should be out of copyright in countries with longer copyright protection, right? So, if a German author has been dead for over 70 years, then his works should be public domain in the U.S. (so, U.S. publication date would be irrelevant), right?
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Unfortunately not. International copyright is incredibly complicated because there are no universal rules. Some countries implement the "rule of the shorter term", but many do not. And even then, bilateral treaties pre-dating the Berne Convention may alter the rules between two specific countries in unexpected ways.
So it's complicated. Unless you look into it very closely, it's safest to assume that the copyright length in your own country is the one that applies to your use of works.