Copyright status of old magazine stories

[mr ploppy]

I have these 3 magazines, which contain unrepublished Harry Harrison stories. Are they out of copyright? I noticed a while ago PG and MR had similar stories of his taken from old magazines like these, even while he was still alive.

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?27891

[HarryT]

They may be out of copyright in the US (if the copyright wasn't renewed), but nowhere else. Certainly not out of copyright in the UK. If the stories aren't on PG, it's a pretty safe bet that copyright was renewed.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I have these 3 magazines, which contain unrepublished Harry Harrison stories. Are they out of copyright? I noticed a while ago PG and MR had similar stories of his taken from old magazines like these, even while he was still alive.

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?27891

The Online Books Page has information on U.S. copyright registrations and renewals by year.

[gweeks]

Not on PG doesn't mean anything other than they may not have been looked at. Astounding/Analog has been mostly looked at. Most other magazines are hit or miss. PG has not looked at all of Harry Harrison's short stories.

It's complex question to answer for any given story. The magazine may have filed a renewal or the author may have. Renewals were only required for works first published before 1964. It also mostly affects the U.S. copyright. Other countries did not have renewal requirements and only pay attention to the U.S. copyright if they implement a rule of sorter term clause.

Greg

[crich70]

Wouldn't the status of a stories copyright also be affected by whom has the rights? I mean say one of Mr. Harrison's stories sold to a magazine and then the rights reverted to him. Or what if the magazine bought all the rights? I've heard it can go either way as far as short stories that appear in magazines.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by crich70

Wouldn't the status of a stories copyright also be affected by whom has the rights? I mean say one of Mr. Harrison's stories sold to a magazine and then the rights reverted to him. Or what if the magazine bought all the rights? I've heard it can go either way as far as short stories that appear in magazines.

No, it depends solely on whether or not the copyright was renewed at the appropriate time. Harrison only died in 2012, so if copyright was renewed, the stories are in copyright. Simple at that. Who held the rights at the time that renewal was required would of course determine who had to do the renewal, but it wouldn't change the basic fact that renewal was required.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it depends solely on whether or not the copyright was renewed at the appropriate time. Harrison only died in 2012, so if copyright was renewed, the stories are in copyright. Simple at that. Who held the rights at the time that renewal was required would of course determine who had to do the renewal, but it wouldn't change the basic fact that renewal was required.

But which would be more likely to remember to do such renewal? I mean take Edmund Hamilton as an example. He died Feb 1st 1977 and his novel "City at World's End" was published in 1951 and it is available at sites like Manybooks.net so I assume the copyright wasn't renewed for some reason. Anyway I don't know why it wasn't renewed, but I'd think a publisher would be more likely to remember than the author since they would lose profits if a living author's work went out of copyright. On the other hand you would think the author would keep an eye on his writings as well what with the labor of creating them in the 1st place.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it depends solely on whether or not the copyright was renewed at the appropriate time. Harrison only died in 2012, so if copyright was renewed, the stories are in copyright. Simple at that. Who held the rights at the time that renewal was required would of course determine who had to do the renewal, but it wouldn't change the basic fact that renewal was required.

Wouldn't the fact that they have never been reprinted suggest copyright was never renewed, or that it was owned by the magazines? Now he's dead whoever owns his estate would want to milk it as much as they can.

[sadowski]

I did investigate copyright renewal some time ago for a similar case I wanted to get clearance for at Gutenberg. I remember there were at least two different databases they wanted you to search and it was quite tedious like browsing through tons of scanned images of copyright renewal documents. Unfortunately, there is no single, electronic resource that holds all renewals in a searchable, reliable format.

You simply have to do your best to make sure that you not miss any indication of renewal. This might include even ensuring that the text was not republished (and copyright subsequently renewed) under a different title etc. And the worst of it: even after all this work you cannot be 100% sure that you did not miss anything.

Gutenberg has some relevant information and links to resources:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenb..._How-To#Rule_6

Jens

[sadowski]

I forgot: all this is only valid for works published before 1964. After this, copyright did not have to be renewed, i.e., these stories are still under copyright (as I see now following your link to ifsdb).

[crich70]

Originally Posted by sadowski

I forgot: all this is only valid for works published before 1964. After this, copyright did not have to be renewed, i.e., these stories are still under copyright (as I see now following your link to ifsdb).

Which might help to explain the book I mentioned in my example as it was 1st published in 1951. It sounds like copyright has gone the same way the Act of Queen Anne did when Harrison was trying to perfect his Chronometer. Or very similar in some ways anyway.