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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">What you say is in line with what I
remember to be the case. But I haven't checked in a long time.
There is also DMCA which criminalizes the act of circumventing an
access control even for PD texts. This only means one has to be
careful about how one obtains the PD texts. One of the treaties,
we should be aware of is the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (<br>
URAA), which allows for the restoration of copyright to some
foreign texts from PD in the US to copyright protected.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf">http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://copyright.gov/circs/circ38b.pdf">http://copyright.gov/circs/circ38b.pdf</a><br>
<br>
Jerry<br>
<br>
On 1/22/2016 11:15 AM, Kahunapule Michael Johnson wrote:<br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I can confirm that Jonathan's claim
is false. See<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm">http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf">http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries%27_copyright_lengths">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries%27_copyright_lengths</a><br>
etc.<br>
<br>
We err on the side of caution, but don't need to react to
assertions made by those without authority who cite incomplete
or false information. The Malayalam Bible is clearly in the
Public Domain, as is EVERYTHING first published before <b>1923</b>.
(OK, almost everything: the Crown Letters Patent pertaining to
the King James Version of the Holy Bible and the Book of Common
Prayer in the UK don't expire, but that isn't a real copyright,
and has no effect in the USA, unless you are trying to export
printed books to the UK.) In the USA, some works published as
late as 1 March <b>1989</b> can be in the Public Domain if they
were not properly marked with a copyright notice and not
registered.<br>
<br>
Copyright expiration is very complicated due to changes in law
over time, the conditions of each of the laws, the variation in
copyright law between countries, and the international treaties
that exist in most, but not all, countries. One of the more
difficult items in copyright law is the way that it often ties
copyright term to the lifetime of the (last surviving)
author(s), unless the copyright owner is a corporation. That
means that sometimes it is necessary to research when the
author(s) died to determine the copyright expiration date.<br>
<br>
Changes in copyright law in the USA and through treaties also
many other nations have effectively paused the steady march of
copyrighted works into the Public Domain until the end of 2018.
At that time, all copyrights that have not already expired for
copyrighted works first published in 1924 will expire. At the
end of 2019, all remaining copyrights for works first published
in 1925 will expire. That is, unless congress annoys us by
changing the law again.<br>
<br>
If you want competent legal advice, you can hire a lawyer who is
an expert in intellectual property law. If you don't want to pay
for that, at least read what is available from reputable and
authoritative sources online, such as <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.copyright.gov">http://www.copyright.gov</a>.<br>
<br>
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