As any good librarian can recite in their sleep, books originally published prior to 1923 are in the public domain and anything published after that date are not. Simple, right? We have been stuck in the 1923 mindset for so long (thanks, Sonny!), that it is easy to forget that January 1, 2019 brought materials from 1923 into the public domain.
While the pre-1923 — now pre-1924 — copyright rule is a safe one, it is not necessarily the end of the story. Many of you probably saw the same headlines I did earlier this summer about the New York Public Library’s assessment that only 25% of the books published from 1924 to 1964 are in copyright.
The idea that 75% of the books published during this 40-year period had not renewed their copyright and had entered the public domain was thrilling — and a little daunting. How do you know which of the titles were in the public domain and which were not?
Well, let’s start with the obvious. The authors or agents of best selling titles likely filed a 28-year renewal — during the 28th year following publication, as required by law — and remain under copyright. But what about less popular titles, like those published and printed locally? Here is the story of one such copyright search.
History of the Town of Jefferson, New Hampshire
Historians researching NH history are fortunate in that so many town and regional histories were published prior to 1923. But the town of Jefferson’s history was published in 1927. It will be another three and a half years until the title is available in the public domain. Or will it?
Step 1: Google the title.
Save yourself some time and perform a Google search for the title. This search will tell you a few things very quickly:
- Are there later editions of the same title? If so, it could indicate that copyright was renewed.
- Is the book a translation? If so, perhaps there is a copyright on the original non-US title.
- In either case, more research is required.
Step 2: Search for the title by publication date in the LOC’s Catalog of Copyright Entries
The Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) lists the books, magazines, movies, art work, maps, etc. published each year, as well as the renewals received that year. The Library of Congress issued the CCE in print from 1891 through 1978 and a microfilm format for 1979 through 1982. Recent additions to the CCE from 1979 onward are available in a searchable database from the LOC website. Luckily for us, Google and university libraries at Stanford and Pennsylvania have digitized the print volumes for easier searching.
Visit the library site from the University of Pennsylvania listing the CCE by date.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/
The title, History of the Town of Jefferson, New Hampshire, was published in 1927 and I found its original copyright listed in the 1927 edition of the CCE.
At the end of the 28-year period, copyrights could be renewed for an additional 28 years. However, as discovered by the NY Public Library, copyrights for a large percentage of books were never renewed. Let us see if a renewal can be found for this title.
Step 3: Search for the title in the CCE 27-29 years past the original copyright
Find the correct years from the UPenn library site 27-29 years after the publication date and see the sections on renewals (of books).
Be sure to view all possible resources!
If you find a listing for the title by that author, the license has definitely been renewed. If you did not find a listing — be certain to view multiple years, as sometimes late-year submissions were added to the following year — it is likely that no renewal was requested.
In Summary
This is a brief tutorial on a much more complicated issue. I strongly recommend that you continue your education by reading the referenced sources below.
References & Additional Reading
Carlstone, Jamie, Ayla Stein, Michael Norman, and John Wilkin. “Copyright Renewal of U.S. Books Published in 1932: Reanalyzing Ringer’s Study to Determine a More Accurate Renewal Rate for Books.” College & Research Libraries, vol 79, no 5,
https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/16828/18775
Fleisman, Glenn. “A Landslide of Classic Art Is About to Enter the Public Domain.” The Atlantic, 8 April 2018.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/copywritten-so-dont-copy-me/557420/
Karjala, Dennis S. “How to Determine Whether a Work Is in the Public Domain.” Arizona State University, accessed 24 September 2019.
http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/publicdomain/SearchC-R.html
New York Public Library Project Reveals Nearly 75% of Books from 1924-1964 Are Likely in the Public Domain. InfoJustice.org, 17 September 2019,
http://infojustice.org/archives/41571
Redmond, Sean. “U.S. Copyright History 1923–1964.” New York Public Library Blog, 31 May 2019,
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/05/31/us-copyright-history-1923-1964
“Welcome to the Public Domain.” Stanford University Libraries, accessed 24 September 2019,
https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/