Is this book out of copyright? (how to find out)

[HarryT]

I believe that what I've said is true in any country which is a signatory to the International Berne Copyright convention.

If I am wrong, I am happy to be corrected; I'd certainly never claim to be "infallible"!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I believe that what I've said is true in any country which is a signatory to the International Berne Copyright convention.

If I am wrong, I am happy to be corrected; I'd certainly never claim to be "infallible"!

Are you thinking about article 9? Notice then the second paragraph:

(2) It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to permit the reproduction of such works in certain special cases, provided that such reproduction does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author.

And event if this text was not in the convention I think it is possible to accept a convention and still have other laws that overrides the convention in specific cases.

[tompe]

For example a lot of countries has laws allowing to make a copy for personal use. So in these countries downloading from Australia to read the book is for personal use.

[HarryT]

I was thinking not of downloads (because I am aware that a number of countries permit downloads of copyrighted material for personal use) but of Ralph's specific example - that of sending someone a paper copy of a book.

In other words, suppose I made a photocopy of a book which was out of copyright in my own country, and sent you that photocopy, when the book was in copyright in your country. Would you be guilty of copyright infringement by accepting it? I think that in most countries you probably would be.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In other words, suppose I made a photocopy of a book which was out of copyright in my own country, and sent you that photocopy, when the book was in copyright in your country. Would you be guilty of copyright infringement by accepting it? I think that in most countries you probably would be.

No, I think I would not be guilty since this falls under the laws that allows you to give a copy of a book to a friend. I see this situation as exactly like the one of downloading. The method to distribute the information does not matter and who initiated the distribution does not matter either.

[bingle]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just like PG Australia are not breaking any law in having material on their server which is out of copyright in Australia, but in copyright in the US, but if you live in the US, you are breaking the law if you download from PG Australia a book which is within copyright in the US.

Which partially shows us how broken the current scheme is now that we have these worldwide repositories of data, and instant easy communication of large amounts of information across national borders, not to mention volunteers doing non-commercial releases of works...

This must mostly be a headache for authors wanting to use those works, companies wanting to publish them, and the volunteers, but it's certainly a mess.

[bingle]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why? The UK government recently decided against an extension of copyright terms; why should the US government not do likewise?

I think you underestimate the influence of lobbyists on the US government. I don't know much about the state of corruption in the UK, but I can only assume your politicians must either be more honest, or higher-priced, than ours.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by tompe

No, I think I would not be guilty since this falls under the laws that allows you to give a copy of a book to a friend. I see this situation as exactly like the one of downloading. The method to distribute the information does not matter and who initiated the distribution does not matter either.

In what country does this law exist? It is certainly not worldwide. Making a photocopy of a copyrighted book in the US to give to a friend is not legal. Parts may be copied for some purposes but not the whole thing.

Dale

[tompe]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

In what country does this law exist? It is certainly not worldwide. Making a photocopy of a copyrighted book in the US to give to a friend is not legal. Parts may be copied for some purposes but not the whole thing.

We have that law in Sweden for example but I think other countries have similar laws. And since HarryT claimed things hold for every country that signed the Berne convention one counter example is enough to show that the statement was wrong.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No. Anne Frank died in 1945; her work will therefore enter the public domain at the start of the year following the 70th anniversary of her death, ie 1st Jan 2016. However, that refers to the German original.

Please, NEVER call this book german again... Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944

An easy mistake to make, but a bit painfull in this case

[Sparrow]

Stumbled across this link that may help clarify copyright rules in the UK:

http://www.museumscopyright.org.uk/private.pdf

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

Please, NEVER call this book german again... Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944

An easy mistake to make, but a bit painfull in this case

My mistake, sorry. Since she was German (born in Frankfurt) I naturally assumed that she wrote in German. I stand corrected!

[JohnnyD]

No harm done;the people in the Netherlands are called the Dutch, but the Dutch call the Germans "Duits", which, in Dutch, sounds almost the same as "Dutch"... sometimes it gets confusing