Copyright edit
The copy on commons is marked as "in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929." - but how can that be for an article from a 1941 issue of a magazine ? -- Beardo (talk) 22:42, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
- @Beardo Flight is apparently a British publication. I'm not up to speed on how copyright expiration works in Great Britain or how it intersects with U.S. copyright law. -Pete (talk) 15:02, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
- Consulting en:Copyright law of the United Kingdom, it seems relevant that the author published the work in 1941 and died in 1946 (both more than 70 years ago). But, still not clear on how that connects to U.S. law. -Pete (talk) 15:07, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
- @Beardo @Pigsonthewing OK, so reviewing it against the instructions on Commons:URAA-restored copyrights, I believe this article is in the public domain in both the UK and US since 2016. If you have any comment on my reasoning, I'm very interested to hear, I'm trying to learn these rules. On the URAA date (1996) the work would have still been in copyright in the UK, because Lanchester's death (1946) + 70 years is 2016. (It would have been considered public domain in the US at that time, since copyright was never renewed. I'm not so certain of this point, but also it may be immaterial.) Regardless, its status would have become "copyrighted" in the US in 1996, but that status would have expired in 2016 along with the British expiration.
- If this reasoning is correct, the work would be PD; but what would be the appropriate tag? {{PD-1996}} would not apply due to the final clause in that banner. Is it {{PD-US-no-renewal}}? -Pete (talk) 17:05, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- On the other hand, according to [[w:en:Uruguay_Round_Agreements_Act#Copyright_restorations|]] such works would have been exempted from the need to adhere to U.S. copyright policy/renewal requirements, in which case this would remain in copyright in the US until 2036. -Pete (talk) 17:14, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- @Peteforsyth: If a work was first published in the UK then its UK copyright term would be pma. 70 (post mortem auctoris, after the death of the author). Before some date I can't recall, when copyright became automatic in the US, such a work would have had to comply with US formalities (notice, and renewal) to gain copyright protection in the US. However, the URAA was designed specifically to repair this gap, and for that reason any work that was in copyright in its country of origin on the URAA date (Jan. 1, 1996 for most countries) had its US copyright restored to the term it would otherwise have had. That's 95 years after first publication for most of the stuff we care about.That's why we have the ever-moving copyright expiration wall: works published more than 95 years ago anywhere in the world are now in the public domain in the US. 1928 + 95 years = 2023, and terms count from the end of the year, so any work published in 1928 or earlier is public domain in the US as of January 1, 2024. Some works published after that can be public domain for other reasons, but if it's 1928 or earlier it is definitely public domain in the US.For this particular work, if it was first published in the UK in 1941 and its author died in 1946 then it would have entered the public domain in the UK the year after 1946 + 70 = 2016. It was still in copyright in the UK on the URAA date (Jan. 1, 1996) and as such its US copyright was restored to a term lasting until after 1941 + 95 = 2036. In other words, barring other factors it is still in copyright in the US.Additional factors to check are 1) was 1941 really the first publication (it could be a reprint, and US term is from first publication), and 2) was it simultaneously published in the US (within 30 days, specifically) in which case its source country is the US according to the rules in Berne and only US rules apply (i.e. if it failed to adhere to formalities it lost copyright, and it is ineligible for URAA restoration).If you're not confused yet you're not doing it right. :) Xover (talk) 18:01, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- @Xover: I'm sorry to report, while I've spent much of the last decade confused about this and deferring to others, your explanation here (on top of recent review of relevant pages) makes me think I'm finally starting to understand it. So I guess I'm doing it "wrong" ;) Thanks for spelling this out. If I'm understanding correctly, it has gone into PD in the UK, so even if it's not in the US, is it a candidate for being transwikied elsewhere? Memory suggests that wikilivres was hosted in Canada, I'm not sure how that relates to such works/conditions. Are there other similar projects hosted in other countries? -Pete (talk) 21:14, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- Wikilivres is long dead, and there are none others that I am aware of. And, yes, based on the information above, its UK copyright expired at the end of 2016. Xover (talk) 22:04, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- @Xover: I'm sorry to report, while I've spent much of the last decade confused about this and deferring to others, your explanation here (on top of recent review of relevant pages) makes me think I'm finally starting to understand it. So I guess I'm doing it "wrong" ;) Thanks for spelling this out. If I'm understanding correctly, it has gone into PD in the UK, so even if it's not in the US, is it a candidate for being transwikied elsewhere? Memory suggests that wikilivres was hosted in Canada, I'm not sure how that relates to such works/conditions. Are there other similar projects hosted in other countries? -Pete (talk) 21:14, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- @Peteforsyth: If a work was first published in the UK then its UK copyright term would be pma. 70 (post mortem auctoris, after the death of the author). Before some date I can't recall, when copyright became automatic in the US, such a work would have had to comply with US formalities (notice, and renewal) to gain copyright protection in the US. However, the URAA was designed specifically to repair this gap, and for that reason any work that was in copyright in its country of origin on the URAA date (Jan. 1, 1996 for most countries) had its US copyright restored to the term it would otherwise have had. That's 95 years after first publication for most of the stuff we care about.That's why we have the ever-moving copyright expiration wall: works published more than 95 years ago anywhere in the world are now in the public domain in the US. 1928 + 95 years = 2023, and terms count from the end of the year, so any work published in 1928 or earlier is public domain in the US as of January 1, 2024. Some works published after that can be public domain for other reasons, but if it's 1928 or earlier it is definitely public domain in the US.For this particular work, if it was first published in the UK in 1941 and its author died in 1946 then it would have entered the public domain in the UK the year after 1946 + 70 = 2016. It was still in copyright in the UK on the URAA date (Jan. 1, 1996) and as such its US copyright was restored to a term lasting until after 1941 + 95 = 2036. In other words, barring other factors it is still in copyright in the US.Additional factors to check are 1) was 1941 really the first publication (it could be a reprint, and US term is from first publication), and 2) was it simultaneously published in the US (within 30 days, specifically) in which case its source country is the US according to the rules in Berne and only US rules apply (i.e. if it failed to adhere to formalities it lost copyright, and it is ineligible for URAA restoration).If you're not confused yet you're not doing it right. :) Xover (talk) 18:01, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
- On the other hand, according to [[w:en:Uruguay_Round_Agreements_Act#Copyright_restorations|]] such works would have been exempted from the need to adhere to U.S. copyright policy/renewal requirements, in which case this would remain in copyright in the US until 2036. -Pete (talk) 17:14, 4 April 2024 (UTC)