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From: "Richard Pence" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Copyright question
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 01:54:38 -0400
References: <80.2993f1c8.2fde60bd@aol.com> <42AE2368.1020201@prodigy.net>


Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer <> wrote:

> Just for the record, the 75 year rule is no longer correct. I recently
> put together a talk on "Writing Your Family History" and found some
> references to that rule from books published in the late 1990s.
>
> For better information, see the web site at
> http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
> "When U. S. Works Pass into the Public Domain," by Lolly Gasaway.

Dear Christine and All:

The listing you point to is the one I checked before writing my previous
response stating that anything published before 1923 was in the public
domain.

I still am at a loss as to what the "75-year rule" is or may have been.

Before 1978, copyright lengths were 28 years plus another 28 if renewed (56
years maximum).

Since 1978 the length of copyrights for material created by an individual is
life plus 70 year or if a corporation, 95 years.

I went back though the Lolly Gasaway list and found no reference to a
75-year rule. And I spent most of my adult life in the publishing business
and can't recall any 75-year term for copyrights. But then I have been
retired for a number of years and may have missed something, especially
since you mentioned the late 1990s, which is after I retired.

Richard





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