Geo-restrictions also seem to be limiting knowledge as Project Gutenberg US just blocked Germany from its website because a German publisher sued over 18 eBooks that were public domain in the U.S.
https://cand.pglaf.org/germany/index.html
At issue was Germany's Life + 70 rule vs U.S. public domain rules
Quote:
Q: Who are the authors? Why are they copyrighted in Germany, but not the the US?
A:
Heinrich Mann, who died in 1950.
Thomas Mann, who died in 1955.
Alfred Döblin, who died in 1957.
In Germany, they are copyrighted based on "life +70 years" of copyright protection (so, copyright will expire after 2020, 2025 and 2027, respectively). In the US, copyright protection is based on the number of years since publication.
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