Quote:
Originally Posted by Iphinome
They certainly had the right to hold unpublished papers but that's property law not copyright law so what should happen now people?
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I'm making the assumption that this is the first publication of an unpublished work. This certainly seems to be the case. IMO, publication of very limited excerpts from the manuscript don't count.
So - this is an unpublished work as of 2009, first published in 2010, created before 1910 by an author who died in 1910.
In the USA,
copyright for unpublished works with a known author is life+70. So it's in the public domain, and has been for 29 years.
In Canada,
copyright for unpublished works of authors who died before 1947 expired 1st January 2003. So it's in the public domain and has been for 7 years.
In the UK,
the situation is different, and it's in copyright until 1st January 2040.
That the manuscript has been edited doesn't matter. Additional notes, preface, etc are copyright the respective authors, but the actual text cannot be made copyright just through the editing process. Especially as in this case the intention is to make as accurate a version of the original manuscript as possible.
Of course, IANAL, so do you own research or take proper legal advice if you intend to republish.
Hmm... checking the US copyright office,
an autobiography of Mark Twain was published in 1959, copyright renewed in 1987.
Assuming that this contains some or most of the material now being published, the copyright status changes.
in the USA, copyright continues for 95 years after publication. That is, until 1st January 2055.
In Canada, copyright in the work published in 1959 expired 1st January 2010.
In the UK, copyright in the work published in 1959 expired 1st January 2010.
So here we have a weird situation.
In the USA, because the work was published in 1959, copyright continues until 2055, otherwise it would be out of copyright.
In the UK, because the work was published in 1959, it is now out of copyright, otherwise it would be in copyright until 2040.
In Canada, it's out of copyright either way, by a few months or a few years.
Again, IANAL.