While I don't disagree that the book is out of copyright, I am interested in this interpretation. Mike, I know that the US has a public domain clause but I thought that only applied to books that were published first (?) in the US at that time. I thought that the copyright law that applied was the law of the publishing land where he copyright existed not the law of where the book was. Knowing that the book was published in the United Kingdom (as Dublin was in 1892) I would have thought that the law that applied was UK copyright law and thus the 50 year rule. The one big exception to that is of course Crown copyright, which is basically where the government does the publishing and Crown copyright exists in perpetuity and does not comply with the 50 year rule. Minor quibble, every book written in the 19th century is not automatically out of copyright. While I admit that any such book is unlikely not to be so, there is still a possibility. Using the general Commonwealth nations 50 years after the death of the author, we can say that any book by someone who died prior to 1950 (in applicable countries) is out of copyright, given that there is still the chance that they were young toward the end of the 19thC and died old then the chance still arises, very slim of course. Regards Andrew <- learning every day (usually the hard way <wry g>) On 18 Apr 2000, at 18:43, Mike and Karen Goad <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > In the United States, that book is in the public domain. It's not because > of where it was published, but when and how it was published. > > First of all, it was published in the 19th century. Everything published > in the 19th century has entered the public domain. > > Second, with no copyright notice, it didn't satisfy the old United States > requirements for notice. Therefore, it would be considered to be in the > public domain on that as well. > > Works published in other countries are generally given the same copyright > protection as works published in the United States provided that they are > signatories of the various international copyright treaties. Likewise, > works published here are supposed to be protected under the copyright laws > of foreign countries. > > Mike > Check out my new genealogy resources at > http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/ > > > At 01:42 AM 4/18/00 -0700, you wrote: > > Hi -- It's been really quiet on this list lately <g>. > > Can someone please advise me on copyright of a book originally published > >in Dublin in 1892, which was out of print and then was reprinted by > >Genealogical Publishing Co., > >Baltimore, Maryland, which I believe is owned by LDS. The LDS has the entire > >book on microfiche, or film. Does LDS now own the copyright? The book is in > >two vols., having no copyright notice in them. Thanks. Andrea > > > > > >==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > >Freepages, that is free web pages > >http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/press/freepages.html > > > >============================== > >The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > >Tens of millions of individuals... and counting. > >http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > Searchable archives at > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=copyright > > ============================== > The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Tens of millions of individuals... and counting. > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > -- Andrew Billinghurst * Have you got your free webpages at http://freepages.rootsweb.com ? * Find out how at http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/press/freepages.html

Andrew ( and all others interested), My understanding of the protection given to works originating from outside the United States is that they are TODAY afforded the same protection in the United States as any work that is published inside the United States. Likewise a work published in the U.S. should have the same protection in Australia as an Australian work. This has all been worked out through several treaties on copyright and intellectual property where those countries who are signatories have agreed to honor the works of other countries under their own copyright laws. Thus U. S. originated works are protected by English, Italian, Greek, Australian copyright laws in those countries. Until relatively recently, U.S works were actually protected longer in foreign countries than they were in the United States. These international treaties only make sense. You can't enforce British copyright law in the United States or Mexican copyright law in Holland. There is no jurisdiction for the authorities. However, a British company or individual can file suit in the United States for copyright infringement of a work published in Great Britain if the infringement is occurring in the U.S. Prior to 1978, all works in the U.S. were required to be registered in the copyright office to be eligible for protection. Also all works had to bear a copyright notice. A work published prior to 1978 without registration or a copyright notice didn't satisfy the prerequisites for protection and, therefore entered the public domain. Summary: A work is provided the copyright protection of the country that it is in, regardless of the country of origin. There are no U.S. works published before 1923 that are protected under U.S. copyright laws. Since foreign works now come under U.S. copyright law when they are in the United Sates, works published elsewhere before 1923 should not be protected in the U.S. under U.S. copyright law. I hope this make sense. The source for much of my information is from the historical and revision notes attached to the on-line U.S. code. This is, however, my interpretation and does not constitute any legal opinion, as I, of course, am not a lawyer. Mike I have other useful stuff at: http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy At 12:47 AM 4/26/00 +1000, Andrew Billinghurst wrote: >While I don't disagree that the book is out of copyright, I am >interested in this interpretation. > >Mike, I know that the US has a public domain clause but I thought >that only applied to books that were published first (?) in the US at >that time. I thought that the copyright law that applied was the law >of the publishing land where he copyright existed not the law of >where the book was. Knowing that the book was published in the >United Kingdom (as Dublin was in 1892) I would have thought that the >law that applied was UK copyright law and thus the 50 year rule. > >The one big exception to that is of course Crown copyright, which is >basically where the government does the publishing and Crown >copyright exists in perpetuity and does not comply with the 50 year >rule. > >Minor quibble, every book written in the 19th century is not >automatically out of copyright. While I admit that any such book is >unlikely not to be so, there is still a possibility. Using the >general Commonwealth nations 50 years after the death of the author, >we can say that any book by someone who died prior to 1950 (in >applicable countries) is out of copyright, given that there is still >the chance that they were young toward the end of the 19thC and died >old then the chance still arises, very slim of course. > >Regards Andrew <- learning every day (usually the hard way <wry g>) > >On 18 Apr 2000, at 18:43, Mike and Karen Goad <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > In the United States, that book is in the public domain. It's not because > > of where it was published, but when and how it was published. > > > > First of all, it was published in the 19th century. Everything published > > in the 19th century has entered the public domain. > > > > Second, with no copyright notice, it didn't satisfy the old United States > > requirements for notice. Therefore, it would be considered to be in the > > public domain on that as well. > > > > Works published in other countries are generally given the same copyright > > protection as works published in the United States provided that they are > > signatories of the various international copyright treaties. Likewise, > > works published here are supposed to be protected under the copyright laws > > of foreign countries. > > > > Mike > > Check out my new genealogy resources at > > http://www.cswnet.com/~sbooks/genealogy/ > > > > > > At 01:42 AM 4/18/00 -0700, you wrote: > > > Hi -- It's been really quiet on this list lately <g>. > > > Can someone please advise me on copyright of a book originally > published > > >in Dublin in 1892, which was out of print and then was reprinted by > > >Genealogical Publishing Co., > > >Baltimore, Maryland, which I believe is owned by LDS. The LDS has the > entire > > >book on microfiche, or film. Does LDS now own the copyright? The book > is in > > >two vols., having no copyright notice in them. Thanks. Andrea > > > > > > > > >==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > > >Freepages, that is free web pages > > >http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/press/freepages.html > > > > > >============================== > > >The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > > >Tens of millions of individuals... and counting. > > >http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > > > > > > ==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== > > Searchable archives at > > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=copyright > > > > ============================== > > The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > > Tens of millions of individuals... and counting. > > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ > > > > >-- >Andrew Billinghurst >* Have you got your free webpages at http://freepages.rootsweb.com ? >* Find out how at http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/press/freepages.html > > >==== COPYRIGHT Mailing List ==== >Support RootsWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > >============================== >The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: >Tens of millions of individuals... and counting. >http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/