At 07:41 PM 10/12/02 +0100, you wrote: >Are you sure that's correct? As I understood it, the copyright last for >75 years after the artist's death, so if someone's work was published >in 1921 and he or she died in 1928, it's still under copyright.
In the United States, anything published prior to January 1, 1923 is in the public domain. It has something to do with the Berne Convention and then the changes made by the Sonny Bono Copyright laws, and while I have Circular 22 from the Library of Congress (which manages copyright in the U.S.) here in front of me, I still can't really make sense of it. However, when I was writing my first book of tunes for the harp (all folksongs), I personally went to the copyright office in the LoC and begged them to help me clarify this. They explained everything quite clearly, which I can't begin to do, but they did write across the front of the Circular for me "anything prior to Jan. 1, 1923." This was confirmed for me when I actually went into the copyright records in the Library to research the tunes. It was common knowledge among all the researchers and staff there. So, I take that as "good enough" for me. Additionally, I based my copyright application specifically on that date and I did get approval. Now, for things published AFTER this magic date, the rules change mightily. Rather than try to understand them, I just stay in the past! (Or write my own music, or commission it...) --Cynthia Cathcart http://www.cynthiacathcart.net/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
