Rule of Thumb, US Copyright

[Poppa1956]

What is the general guideline for a book entering the PD in the US? I would like to test my hand at a making some epubs based on older books that I cannot locate on Gütenberg Project, but do not wish to make then public if it is unlawful to do so.
IN particular, I am looking at The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. My copy says it was first published in 1926.

Thank you in advance.

[Fbone]

[I]The Richest Man in Babylon[I] is already available in ePub format here on MR.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62820

BN Publishing produced the Kindle version so I am guessing they would know if the book entered public domain. I think the problem is if the copyright has been renewed which would extend it to 95 years according to Cornell University.

[Iphinome]

Copyright in the US till 2027, unless the copyright term is extended again before that. That's assuming the copyright was rewnwed.

[Poppa1956]

Originally Posted by Fbone

[I]The Richest Man in Babylon[I] is already available in ePub format here on MR.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62820

BN Publishing produced the Kindle version so I am guessing they would know if the book entered public domain. I think the problem is if the copyright has been renewed which would extend it to 95 years according to Cornell University.

I didn't even look. Shame on me.
I am curious as to why it's allowed to continue in places here, if it is not in the PD. I'm not telling the copyright police, though.
Ah well, I found Acres of Diamonds on Gütenberg, and that spells "Safe" to me. (Bad spelling is one of my excuses for not doing original stories, it sounds so much better than, "I'm too lazy.")

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by Poppa1956

I am curious as to why it's allowed to continue in places here, if it is not in the PD.

The governing law for Mobile Read is of country where server is located. Which happens to be Canada. The Canadian copyright law places in public domain works 50 years after author's death. So, it is in public domain, you just happened to hail from the country where copyright laws are different.

[bgalbrecht]

The rule of thumb for US copyrights is that if it was originally published before 1923, it's in the public domain, if it was published before 1964 and not copyright was not renewed 28 years after the original copyright, it's in the public domain. Anything published prior to 1978 that's in copyright currently has a 95 year copyright term, (so The Richest Man in Babylon should become public domain on 1 January 2022, not 2027 as Iphinome listed), and anything published after 1977 has a copyright term of life+70.

Here are URLs for searching US Copyright/Copyright renewal:
Copyright renewal search at Stanford
Library of Congress Copyright search

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Poppa1956

What is the general guideline for a book entering the PD in the US? I would like to test my hand at a making some epubs based on older books that I cannot locate on Gütenberg Project, but do not wish to make then public if it is unlawful to do so.
IN particular, I am looking at The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. My copy says it was first published in 1926.

Thank you in advance.

This book is not in the public domain in the USA, although it is in Canada.

Be careful with this particular book, though. There is a revised edition of it which has been very widely pirated. This revised edition is NOT in the public domain anywhere, and the US copyright holder is extremely active in tracking down and taking legal action against those who post it illegally. You might be better off starting with something a little less "litigation prone", because of this, especially given the fact that, although the book you have is in the public domain in many countries, you'd technically be breaking copyright law in redistributing it, since it's not in the public domain in the US.

[Fbone]

It looks like it was renewed in 1954 and again in 1983 so it will be the full 95 years.

[Iphinome]

Originally Posted by Fbone

It looks like it was renewed in 1954 and again in 1983 so it will be the full 95 years.

I'm sure it'll get extended again in 2018 then 2038 then 2058.....

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Iphinome

Copyright in the US till 2027, unless the copyright term is extended again before that.

What do you mean "unless" it is extended again? I think it's pretty obvious that anything which isn't already in the PD will probably never be.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Poppa1956

I didn't even look. Shame on me.
I am curious as to why it's allowed to continue in places here, if it is not in the PD. I'm not telling the copyright police, though.
Ah well, I found Acres of Diamonds on Gütenberg, and that spells "Safe" to me. (Bad spelling is one of my excuses for not doing original stories, it sounds so much better than, "I'm too lazy.")

Here's the classic example. The Reminiscences Of A Stock Operator was published in March 1923. The author died in 1943. It is PD in Canada, and has been since 1994. It will go public domain in Britain in 2014. It is still under copyright in the US until 2018. Had it been published 4 months earlier it would have been in public domain in the US since 1979.

Every time the copyright is about to expire on the early Disney films, there is a deluge of copyright lobbying to extend copyright again, in the name of the artistic creator, who is already long dead....

[Krystian Galaj]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

What do you mean "unless" it is extended again? I think it's pretty obvious that anything which isn't already in the PD will probably never be.

But still everyone will have it a mouse click away.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

What do you mean "unless" it is extended again? I think it's pretty obvious that anything which isn't already in the PD will probably never be.

US copyright law should start operating "normally" (ie the way it does in the rest of the world) from 2048 onwards, when "life + 70" copyrights start expiring for authors who died in 1977, the year in which the US adopted a conventional "life + 70" copyright term. Until 2048, it will probably continue to be the "odd man out" in copyright terms.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

US copyright law should start operating "normally" (ie the way it does in the rest of the world) from 2048 onwards, when "life + 70" copyrights start expiring for authors who died in 1977, the year in which the US adopted a conventional "life + 70" copyright term. Until 2048, it will probably continue to be the "odd man out" in copyright terms.

You honestly think they won't extend it again? "life + 70" is already ridiculous. Once you've set that precedent, why not "life + 90" or "life + 150".

[Poppa1956]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This book is not in the public domain in the USA, although it is in Canada.

Be careful with this particular book, though. There is a revised edition of it which has been very widely pirated. This revised edition is NOT in the public domain anywhere, and the US copyright holder is extremely active in tracking down and taking legal action against those who post it illegally. You might be better off starting with something a little less "litigation prone", because of this, especially given the fact that, although the book you have is in the public domain in many countries, you'd technically be breaking copyright law in redistributing it, since it's not in the public domain in the US.

Exactly my plan here. I don't have spare money for lawyers, especially for legal challenges that could be avoided by me paying attention. I also don't want to bring any trouble the MR, as I will mostly likely post my efforts here.