>Norm Ruddock nkr@globaldialog.com wrote:
…
>As the result of the copyright discussions on the Armagh board and
>previous ones on several other boards I subscribe to, I thought some
>research into the law was necessary.

>The Copyright Laws found deal mostly with the US Law. <snip>

>Copyrights run for 70 years after the authors death or 120 years from
>their publish date. That differs a bit from what Alison commented on
>the other day on the list.

I was making reference to UK law, because the books/resources that I've mentioned were published in Ireland (during the 19th century when the entire island was subject to the 1800 Act of Union with England). The remainder of this post provides, IMO, a good general outline of <duration of copyright> matters in the UK, as well as suggestions for more complete resources about <all matters pertaining to copyright in the UK> ... resources considerably more authoritative than this writer - a canuckian, a part-time genealogist, full-time accountant, and (worse, haha) erstwhile farmeress :-).

David Hawgood wrote an article for the GENUKI (UK & Ireland Genealogy) web site, entitled "Copyright for Family Historians". The article is published at the following URL:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/org/Copyright.html

The article addresses: practical implications for family historians; sources of reliable/authoritative legal information; duration of copyright; obtaining copies; publishing extracts from the work of others; publication rights for one's own family history; transcripts, indices; and, the individual's copyright.

My understanding of the paragraphs written by Hawgood regarding UK law governing the duration of copyright is summarized as follows:

- Published written work: 70 years from the death of the author, for authors resident in the European Union.
- Unpublished written work:
a) For authors who die after 1989: 70 years from the death of the author
b) For authors who died before 1989: until the year 2039.
- Photographs & artistic works: 70 years from the death of the artist.
- Crown copyright, that is, works published by the government:
a) Unpublished text created before 1989: 125 years after creation or the year 2039, whichever is later;
b) Most published text: 50 years from publication.
c) Published or unpublished photographs: taken before 1957: 50 years.
- Typography of a written work: 25 years from publication, even if the work is otherwise out of copyright. (Alison's note: This means that you cannot just scan text from a source whose typeset is less than 25-years-old and then print or post it.)
- Arrangement of material in an edition, compilation, abstract or transcript - even if all the words in the new work came from works which are out of copyright: 70 years from the death of the editor. (Alison's note: correct interpretation would focus on the word "arrangement", I believe, as opposed to "content". Anyone else have an opinion or reliable source for interpretation?)
- Computer databases: the compiler of a computer database will have a right to prevent unfair extraction for 15 years, even if the material in the database is otherwise out of copyright.

Far better still, the British Library's Copyright Office has provided a SPLENDID set of tables that outline the duration of copyright for:
- published literary, dramatic and musical works;
- unpublished literary, dramatic and musical works;
- artistic works; and,
- Crown and Parliamentary copyright.
Please run, don't walk, to their URL at:
http://www.bl.uk/services/information/coptable.html

However, what if published text has no stated author? An example would be newspaper articles without a reporter's byline. Here's what the British Library says about duration of copyright:

"For an unsigned or anonymous article: copyright expires 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was made, or made available to the public. For example, a newspaper published in 1930 is out of copyright in 2001.

"For a signed article: copyright extends until 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author died.

The ownership of copyright will depend on whether the journalist was a staff reporter or a freelancer? Whether the article was a syndicated article? and so forth. When an article is prepared as part of a journalist's permanent employment, the copyright belongs to the publisher; otherwise it probably still belongs to the author. Rules on commissioned articles are complex and advice should be sought."

Reference for the above & for more information, please refer to the British Library's URL at:
http://www.bl.uk/collections/copynews.html

Another excellent source of good information about copyright in the UK can be found at the web site for the University for the West of England (Bristol). The university's Library has published a 14-page document (in Adobe Acrobat format) entitled, "Guidelines on Copyright". Subjects covered include the following (please note that the document contains at least a dozen more subtitles):
- Copyright - Types of work
- Definition of 'Authors'
- First Owners
- Dealings with Rights in Copyright Works
- Duration of copyright
- Qualification for copyright protection
- Fair Dealing
- Acts restricted by copyright
- Infringement and secondary infringement
- Penalties and remedies
- Electronic Copying & Digital Use of Copyright Material
- Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA)
- Mechanical Copyright Protection Society Limited
- Ordnance Survey
To study this publication, point your browser to the following URL:
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/nlsf/staff/copyright.pdf

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