Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
The issue of royalties for unattributed works was overlooked when I wrote this. Perhaps the royalties could go to libraries, or to fund a literary bursary or prize.
The general idea in the quote above is to simplify the issue of copyright. Right now the law is a self-contradictory mess.
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http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap3.html
(c) Anonymous Works, Pseudonymous Works, and Works Made for Hire. — In the case of an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication, or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. If, before the end of such term, the identity of one or more of the authors of an anonymous or pseudonymous work is revealed in the records of a registration made for that work under subsections (a) or (d) of section 408, or in the records provided by this subsection, the copyright in the work endures for the term specified by subsection (a) or (b), based on the life of the author or authors whose identity has been revealed. Any person having an interest in the copyright in an anonymous or pseudonymous work may at any time record, in records to be maintained by the Copyright Office for that purpose, a statement identifying one or more authors of the work; the statement shall also identify the person filing it, the nature of that person's interest, the source of the information recorded, and the particular work affected, and shall comply in form and content with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall prescribe by regulation.
Though if anyone can figure out in a practical way how a work by an unknown creator can be legally published.... The only loophole I see is that anonymous people probably have a really hard time filing lawsuits.