Posted by John Wilson on September 30, 2004 at 13:09:09 from 202.154.157.202 user hugo.
In Reply to: Re: John Buchan etc posted by Peter H on September 29, 2004 at 20:49:46:
John Buchan (died 1940) has 8 books on the Gutenberg website, though he is copyright in Britain to the end of 2010 (+70yr). But:
1 The copyright owner could have given permission.
2 The Gutenberg website (Rule 1) does say that in general works published before 1 Jan 1923 anywhere will now be out of copyright (+75y max) in America, and that is the rule they usually use. From 1923 on it is +95y.
3 US copyright may not have been obtained. In fact according to the JB website his first novel “Sir Quixote of the Moors” (1895) was published in a pirated American edition - with an amended (happier!) ending. I would think that agents/publishers of an established author would be more thorough in getting overseas including US copyright for his works though.
NB: Books of P.G.Wodehouse (died 1975) are also on the Gutenberg website.
British Copyright was extended from +50y after death to +70y after death, effective in 1996. This I think (if my maths is right) means that in 1996:
1 Books of authors who died in 1945 and would have lost copyright after 1995 (+50y) will now lose copyright at the end of 2015 ie from 2016.
2 Books of authors who died in 1926 would have come back into copyright for 1996, but would be back in the public domain from 1997.
3 So the authors whose books came back into copyright in 1996 are those who died in the years 1926 to 1944.
PS: While apparently an EC requirement, the start date of 1 Jan 1996 also ties in with the GATT rule mentioned in Gutenberg site Rule 6, and would give British authors the extra years in America also (though Australia, Canada & New Zealand were still able under GATT to retain +50y).