Sheila <hhelser(a)bright.net> wrote:
I have a book
Oil Well in the Woods
by John Christopher O'Day, M.D.
Published by the Oquaga Press Deposit N.Y. 1905
It was purchased by Frank Barr from Henry Kleid on Dec. 19, 1905
It appears do deal with more than one county. And since Frank wandered
between McKean and Venango, I am not sure which county would be more
interested in the facts.
Does anyone know anything about this book?
Is it considered out of print? I would like to use some of the facts on
Venango and others but am not sure how I look for copyright.
Hi, Sheila,
This one is definitely public domain. Anything prior to 1923 is definitely
public domain. After 1923, works may still be public domain, but it depends on
a number of things. For instance, in 1923 copyright was for 28 years with one
optional 28 year renewal. A book copyrighted in 1925 became public domain in
1954 if the copyright wasn't renewed. One the other hand, if the copyright
was renewed in 1953, then the renewal would have been good through 1981 under
the old law. However, before 1981 arrived, Congress passed a new law that
extended most existing copyrights for a total of 75 years, so the 1925 work (if
renewed in 1953) then became copyright through 2000. (If a work was already
public domain because the author hadn't renewed the copyright, it stayed public
domain.) Most recently another copyright law has been passed further extending
copyrights that were still valid.
My understanding is that anything prior to 1923 is definitely OK, while stuff
after 1923 is still copyright if it didn't become public domain when the first
renewal came due. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any easy way to
determine if the copyright on a post-1923 work was renewed. Anybody know an
easy way to do this without sending a couple hundred dollars to the Copyright
Office to research the issue?
By the way, the USGenWeb Project national pages have a Copyright FAQ that
covers some of these issues.
Ed Book