Wikisource:Licensing form

User interface

The user interface might look something like the example path below, using AJAX to dynamically generate the appropriate questions based on the previous answers.

1. Where was the work published?

   In the United States, or in the US within 30 days of publication elsewhere.

   Elsewhere (but not in the US):

   Don't know

   v

   China (mainland)
   Russia
   Taiwan

2. Who was the author?

   Don't know

   US citizen

   US corporation

   US federal government

   non-US citizen

3. What was the year of first publication in the above?

   1971

4. Does a copyright notice (text like "© name") appear anywhere in the original edition?

   Yes.

   No.

   I don't know.

Result:
The text is in the public domain in the United States, because the Copyright Act of 1909 in force in 1971 required that a copyright notice appear on distributed copies. (Wikisource template: {{PD-US-no-notice}}.)

Copyright laws

This is a comprehensive tree of questions the script will ask to determine a work's status, divided by where it was published. For the sake of simplicity, the following abbreviations are used:

Abbreviation	Description
pma	years after the author's death
ysc	years since the work was created
yspub	years since the work was published

Canada

Canadian copyright and moral rights are automatic for any work created by a citizen or resident of Canada, a country with which it has a copyright treaty, or a country to which the Minister has extended protection by notice in the Canada Gazette. Copyright extends until the end of the calendar year (so, for example, a 50-year copyright might actually last 50 years and 11 months).

The general rule is that copyright extends fifty years after the death of the author, but numerous exceptions exist. If there is more than one author, the last-surviving author is used. Moral rights can be waived, but cannot transferred and are not automatically waived when copyright is transferred or waived.^[1]

1. Works by known living authors
   1. Photographs
      1. by an individual author: 50pma.^[1]
      2. works for hire (copyright held for a corporation)
         1. with the individual author as majority voting shareholder: public domain for works by authors who died before 1974 (50pma).^[1]
         2. with the individual author not a majority voting shareholder: public domain for works created before 1974 (50ysc). If there is an original plate or negative, these are used for the date of creation.^[1]
   2. Cinematographic works
      1. having an original arrangement, acting form or combination of incidents (ie, most home movies): public domain for works published before 1974 (50yspub) if published within 50 years of creation, or created before 1974 (50ysc) otherwise.^[1]
      2. not having an original arrangement, acting form or combination of incidents (ie, motion pictures): public domain for works published before 1974 (50yspub).^[1]
   3. Sound recordings: public domain for works fixed before 1974 (50 years after fixation).^[1]
   4. Performer's performance (ie, theatre):
      1. fixed: public domain for works first fixed before 1974 (50 years from fixation).^[1]
      2. not fixed: public domain for works first performed before 1974 (50 years from performance).^[1]
   5. Communications signals: public domain for signals first broadcast before 1974 (50 years from broadcast).^[1]
   6. Government works
      1. published: public domain for works published before 1974 (50yspub).^[1]
      2. not published: copyrighted perpetually.^[1]
2. Works by unknown living authors: public domain for works published before 1974 (50yspub) or created before 1949 (75ysc), whichever is shorter.^[1]
3. Works published posthumously
   1. created before 25 July 1997
      1. published before 25 July 1997: public domain for works published before 1974 (50yspub).^[1]
      2. published after 25 July 1997: public domain.^[1]
   2. created after 25 July 1997: public domain for authors who died before 1974 (50pma).^[1]

United States

See librarycopyright.net

^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Unpublished^[a] works

1. anonymous or pseudonymous: public domain for works created before 1904 (120ysc).^[2]
2. by authors of unknown death date: likely public domain for works created before 1904 (120ysc).
   These may still be copyrighted, but certification from the Copyright Office that it has no record to indicate whether the person is living or died less than 70 years before is a complete defense to any action for infringement. This criteria cannot be used without such certification.^[2][4]
3. made for hire (copyright owned by a corporation): public domain for works created before 1904 (120ysc).^[2]
4. by an individual author: public domain for authors who died before 1954 (70pma).^[2]
5. created before 1978 and later published
   1. 1978–2002 (inclusive): copyrighted until 1 January 2048 (70pma or until 31 December 2047, whichever is later).^[2]
   2. 2003+: public domain for authors who died before 1954 (70pma).^[2]

Published works

1. Legally published^[a] in the United States (including works published in the US within 30 days of foreign publication^[2])
   1. before 1923: public domain.^[2]
   2. 1923–1963
      1. with copyright notice (ie, "Copyright John Doe 1935")
         1. copyright not renewed: public domain.^[2]
            For more information determining renewal status, see "How Can I Tell Whether a Copyright Was Renewed?" (The Online Books Page).
         2. copyright renewed: copyrighted until 2018-2058 (95yspub).^[2]
      2. without notice: public domain.^[2]
   3. 1964–1977
      1. with notice: copyrighted until 2059-2072 (95yspub).^[2]
      2. without notice: public domain.^[2]
   4. 1978–1 March 1989
      1. with notice
         1. 1. individual author: public domain for works published before 1954 (70pma).^[2]
            2. made for hire
               1. created before 1904: public domain (120ysc).^[2]
               2. created after 1904: copyrighted until 2073-2074 (95yspub).^[2]
      2. without notice
         1. without subsequent registration: public domain.^[2]
         2. with subsequent registration
            1. individual author: public domain for works published before 1954 (70pma).^[2]
            2. made for hire
               1. created before 1904: public domain (120ysc).^[2]
               2. created after 1904: copyrighted until 2073 (95yspub).^[2]
      3. with notice
         1. without copyright renewal: public domain.^[2]
         2. with copyright renewal: copyrighted until 2073-2084 (95yspub).^[2]
   5. after 1 March 1989
      1. individual author: copyrighted until 2059-2094 (70pma).^[2]
      2. made for hire: copyrighted until 2084-2119 (95yspub) or 2109-2144 (120ysc), whichever is shorter.^[2]
2. Legally published^[a] outside the United States (excluding works published in the US within 30 days of foreign publication^[2])
   1. before 1 July 1909: public domain.^[2]
   2. 1 July 1909–1922
      1. in compliance with US formalities: public domain.^[2]
         US formalities include copyright notice, registration and renewal, publication, the deposit of two copies of the work to the Library of Congress within three months of publication, and the manufacture of the work in the US.^[5]
      2. in non-compliance with US formalities: see URAA-restored copyright.^[3]
   3. 1923–1977
      1. with notice and compliance with US formalities, and copyright in its home country as of 1 January 1996: copyrighted until 2018-2072 (95yspub).^[2]
      2. in non-compliance with US formalities
         1. in the public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996: public domain.^[2]
         2. copyrighted in its home country as of 1 January 1996: see URAA-restored copyright.^[3]
   4. after 1 January 1978
      1. in the public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996: public domain.^[2]
      2. copyright in its home country as of 1 January 1996
         1. individual authors: public domain for authors who died before 1954 (70pma).^[2]
         2. made for hire: copyrighted until 2073-2119 (95yspub) or 2098-2144 (120ysc).^[2]

URAA-restored copyright

This section provides additional information for certain cases above; if it is relevant, it will be linked from the tree above.

The Uruguay Round Agreements Act retroactively restores copyright for any work meeting all of the following criteria on 01 January 1996:^[6][2]

1. When the work was created, at least one author (or rightholder of a sound recording) was a citizen or inhabitant of an eligible country^[b];
2. If published, it was first published in an eligible country^[b] and not published in the US within 30 days of that publication.
3. The work was not in the public domain in its source country due to expiry of protection;
4. The work was in the US public domain because (one of):
   • it did not comply with any US formalities (including registration, renewal, et cetera);
   • the work is a sound recording fixed before 15 February 1972;
   • the work lacked national eligibility in the United States.

The copyright terms for eligible works are restored as such, depending on the year of publication:

1. before 1923: public domain.^[2]
2. 1923–01 January 1978: copyrighted for 95 years from the year of first publication. This also applies to sound recordings, even though they were not subject to copyright law before 1972.^[6]
3. after 01 January 1978: copyrighted for 70 years after the author's death.^[6]

Footnotes

• a  "publication" is legally defined as such:^[6]
  • for works published before 01 January 1978: the act of making one or more copies available to the public, usually by sale or placing on sale or public distribution without express or implied restrictions as to future use. Recordings of musical compositions are not considered copies, so distributing a recording published the recording itself but not the music contained on it.
  • for works published on or after 01 January 1978: the distribution to the public anywhere in the world of copies or phonorecords of a work by sale, transfer of ownership, rental, lease, or lending, or by offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance or display. A public performance or display in itself does not constitute publication. (17 USC 101)
• b  An "eligible country" is any member (other than the United States) of the Berne Convention or World Trade Organization, or a country to whom copyright protection was extended by presidential proclamation.^[6]

References

1. "A Guide to Copyrights: Copyright Protection", Canadian Intellectual Property Office
2. "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States", Peter B. Hirtle
3. "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States" footnote 11, Peter B. Hirtle
4. United States Code Title 17 Section 302: Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 1978
5. "US Copyright law", Wikibooks
6. "Circular 38b: Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the URAA", U.S. Copyright Office (PDF, 11 KB)