[Coco] Republishing Magazines

Dennis Bathory-Kitsz bathory at maltedmedia.com
Sun Dec 28 09:35:29 EST 2003


At 09:22 AM 12/28/03 -0500, jdaggett at gate.net wrote:
>To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for
limited times to 
>authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and 
>discoveries; 
>Article I Section 8 US Constitution.

That's the section I referred to in my previous post -- the only right
granted in the body and not the amendments. Cool, huh?

>It is my guess that Congress made copywrights and author protection 70
years was 
>to give the full measure of life of a writer. Suppose he wrote a novel
when young. 
>This would ensure that his work was copyrighted for his life or most of it. 

You wish! :) It is a "life-plus" term -- life plus 70 years, except for
work for hire. Here's the relevant info from the Copyright Office -- and
note the term of work for hire, which is part of this hideous issue!

'A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or
after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its
creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life plus
an additional 70 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint
work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire," the term
lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made
for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's
identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of
copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation,
whichever is shorter.'

Dennis





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