Greetings Friends,

I am a complete novice when it comes to copyright law. I would like to
learn more. I chose a particular example to try and begin to understand.

J.R. Capablanca's "Chess Fundamentals" was originally copyrighted in
1921. I see that several revisions of it have been copyrighted since
then. Is it true that all US works before 1923 are now public domain?
What is the current copyright status of the original work? How do the
subsequent derivative works gain copyright protection from the original,
or are they considered independent works?

A related question: Is there an online inquiry that allows one to check
the copyright status of various books? Is there a copyright-for-dummies
website out there somewhere?

Thanks in advance to any who can shed light on this...
--


Cheers,
Rev. J.D. Walker, U.C.

'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.'
-- (Exodus 23:2)
'It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
society.'
-- Jiddu Krishnamurti

On Nov 11, 1:23 am, "J.D. Walker" wrote:
Greetings Friends,

I am a complete novice when it comes to copyright law. I would like to
learn more. I chose a particular example to try and begin to understand.

J.R. Capablanca's "Chess Fundamentals" was originally copyrighted in
1921. I see that several revisions of it have been copyrighted since
then. Is it true that all US works before 1923 are now public domain?
What is the current copyright status of the original work? How do the
subsequent derivative works gain copyright protection from the original,
or are they considered independent works?

A related question: Is there an online inquiry that allows one to check
the copyright status of various books? Is there a copyright-for-dummies
website out there somewhere?

Thanks in advance to any who can shed light on this...
--

Cheers,
Rev. J.D. Walker, U.C.

'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.'
-- (Exodus 23:2)
'It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
society.'
-- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Chess Fundamentals and any other book written prior to 1923 is in
public domain.

Go to http://www.copyright.gov and study what it says.

Sam Sloan

samsloan wrote:
On Nov 11, 1:23 am, "J.D. Walker" wrote:
Greetings Friends,

I am a complete novice when it comes to copyright law. I would like to
learn more. I chose a particular example to try and begin to understand.

J.R. Capablanca's "Chess Fundamentals" was originally copyrighted in
1921. I see that several revisions of it have been copyrighted since
then. Is it true that all US works before 1923 are now public domain?
What is the current copyright status of the original work? How do the
subsequent derivative works gain copyright protection from the original,
or are they considered independent works?

A related question: Is there an online inquiry that allows one to check
the copyright status of various books? Is there a copyright-for-dummies
website out there somewhere?

Thanks in advance to any who can shed light on this...
--

Cheers,
Rev. J.D. Walker, U.C.

'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.'
-- (Exodus 23:2)
'It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
society.'
-- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Chess Fundamentals and any other book written prior to 1923 is in
public domain.

Go to http://www.copyright.gov and study what it says.

Sam Sloan

Thanks Sam. I have since learned that "Chess Fundamentals," the
original version, is set to be released by Project Gutenberg as an etext
for free sometime in the near future.

--


Cheers,
Rev. J.D. Walker, U.C.

'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.'
-- (Exodus 23:2)
'It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
society.'
-- Jiddu Krishnamurti

J.D. Walker wrote:

J.R. Capablanca's "Chess Fundamentals" was originally copyrighted in
1921. I see that several revisions of it have been copyrighted since
then. Is it true that all US works before 1923 are now public domain?

Anything copyrighted before 1923 is now public domain. That is not quite the
same as 'anything published before 1923', although the differences are
probably very small.

How do the
subsequent derivative works gain copyright protection from the original,
or are they considered independent works?

They don't. In so far as they add original, protectable matter (such as a
preface, an appendix with new analysis, or something such), that matter is
protected, and can't be republished without permission.

A related question: Is there an online inquiry that allows one to check
the copyright status of various books? Is there a copyright-for-dummies
website out there somewhere?

Library of Congress has a useful circular:

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.pdf

Also check:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/okbooks.html

--
Anders Thulin anders*thulin.name http://www.anders.thulin.name/