On 4/19/07, David Evans <devans@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Try haunting used bookstores or thrift stores—sometimes you
will find an older book published by a defunct house. If nobody has renewed the
copywrite, I believe you can use the illustrations
Below is a small section (fair use...) of a guidance document from the US copyright office:
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A work published before January 1, 1964, and originally copyrighted within
the past 75 years may still be protected by copyright if a valid renewal registration
was made during the 28th year of the first term of the copyright. If renewed
and if still valid under the other provisions of the law, the copyright will
now expire 95 years from the end of the year in which it was first secured.
Works published before January 1, 1923, have fallen into the public
domain, but works published after that date could still be protected by copyright
if the copyright was renewed by registration or automatically by law under
Public Law 102-307.
--
Issues of renewal of copyright apply to things published in 1923 or after. Once a work has fallen into the public domain (except for a few weird exceptions) no one can re-privatize it.
The whole thing is available at: