Can I republish a Russian book from 1970s in the US?
- October 25, 2017 @ 11:26amTonyA says:
Hey all, my apologies if this isn't the right place for this kind of question:
I have a rare book from Russia that was originally written in the 60s. The copyright on the version I have is 1971, and it was imported into the states in 81. The copy I have is translated into English by the original Publisher (Progress Publishers and Fizkultura i Sport Publishers).
Anyway, it seems that there is no registered copyright of the book in the US, the original publisher is defunct, the company that imported the book is defunct, and I'm 99% sure the author is deceased.
I'd like to publish a "2nd edition" of this book, with updated graphics, charts, etc... but I'm having a hard time figuring out the legality of such a project. I doubt it would be a big "money maker" it's just a highly sought after book for fitness geeks, and would be a great asset to the fitness community.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
- October 25, 2017 @ 12:36pmwilliamsonl says:
Preface: I am not an authority in international copyright.
It doesn't matter that all are out of business, it just makes it an orphan work. These are a big problem because they are left in copyright limbo because they are still covered, but there's no way to do anything that requires permissions.
My opinion is that you cannot do anything with this work as it is still covered by copyright. I would welcome input from anyone who has more experience with this?
- October 30, 2017 @ 9:05amCarrie says:
Hello Tonya:
We had a number of expert librarians chime in about your question. The bottom line is that we believe the translation is protected by copyright so making a 2nd edition without permission from the rights holders is problematic. Since you cannot find the rights holder, making a 2nd edition puts you at a level of risk - the rights holder might turn up, disover your edition, and be upset. This is not likely to happen, but it still could happen.
Hope this helps. See the responses below!
-Carrie
All,
Plus one for Kyle’s discussion.
I will add, to be clear, that restoration in the US restores the copyright based on the US term, not the Russian term. If the work was not in the public domain in the country of origin (I’ll assume Russia, and that it doesn’t fall under one of the other former SSRs), then the work’s copyright was restored in the US for the full term that it would have enjoyed in the US, assuming automatic extension. Even if it expired in Russia in 1997, it would still be protected in the US for 95 years. Also, restoration was automatic, and not dependent on the filing of a notice of intent to enforce (which is a misconception I see from time to time). Without going back to check, my off the top of my head recollection that a NOIE was required only with regard to reliance parties—people who were already making use of the work.
Also, as a general reminder, works that were restored under 104A are not subject to 109 in the same way every other work is. This is a particular problem with music, since many restored musical works are not available for sale. We have several restored works in our collections that, if we were to rely solely on 109, we would not be able to lend without violating the distribution right.
Fie on 104A. Fie, I say. Fie. A pox on it and its first born.
Eric
From: cac-request@lists.ala.org [mailto:cac-request@lists.ala.org] On Behalf Of "Courtney, Kyle K."
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 2:25 PM
To: cac@lists.ala.org
Subject: Re: [cac] FW: Can I republish a Russian book from 1970s in the US? - New ReplyHello all -
I deal with these Russian © questions from time to time. Maybe not exactly on point here but here goes:
From 1961 to the 1990’s the Russian copyright law was “Fundamentals of Civil Law of 1961" and the "RSFSR Civil Code of 1964” where copyright provisions became a part of codified acts of civil law. The RSFSR 1964 Civil Code (and the Codes of other Soviet republics) were the only real main source of copyright legislation for a while.
I have seen the originals and some translations and there was very limited copyright protections.
Basically: 1) a lack of regulations regarding anything like registration and scope 2) a lack of major exceptions from authors rights, and 3) limited terms of protection (15 years after death, increased in 1973 to 25 years after death).
Side note: For the copyright status of original Russian works in the U.S. here is the formula:
Look to 1/1/96 when copyright restoration went into effect in the U.S. for works originating on the territory of what is now the Russian Federation. If the Russian work was not protected in Russia on that date, the work is NOT restored, and under public domain in the U.S.
So you have to know see what was the copyright duration in Russia at the time of publication (Life plus 15, life plus 25, or, later, life plus 50, etc.)
Example: We want to scan a Tchaikovsky work. Tchaikovsky died in 1893, his compositions would not have been restored in the U.S. on 1/1/96 when copyright restoration went into effect in the U.S. for works originating on the territory of what is now the Russian Federation. They were not protected in Russia on that date [under the then-life plus 50 term] and so were not restored in the U.S. Therefore, that Tchaikovsky work is in the public domain in the U.S.
Maybe this helps?
Thanks,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kyle K. Courtney, Esq.|Copyright Advisor
One Harvard Yard|Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-4089| kyle_courtney@harvard.edu
http://scholar.harvard.edu/kcourtney/
From: cac-request@lists.ala.org <cac-request@lists.ala.org> on behalf of Benson, Sara Rachel <srbenson@illinois.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 4:00:08 PM
To: cac@lists.ala.org
Subject: RE: [cac] FW: Can I republish a Russian book from 1970s in the US? - New ReplyI’m not at all sure where the 1971-1999 dates came from…
The translation, assuming it was done with permission from the original author in Russian, gets a copyright. 1971 works in the US published with a © notice get 95 years of protection after the date of publication…. So, 2066.
Sara R. Benson, LLM, JD
Copyright Librarian
Assistant Professor
Scholarly Communications & Publishing Unit
Assistant Professor, University Library
1408 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, Illinois 61801 USA
email srbenson@illinois.edu
ORCID ID
orcid.org/0000-0002-0674-2000
From: cac-request@lists.ala.org [mailto:cac-request@lists.ala.org] On Behalf Of Lindsey Weeramuni
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 2:56 PM
To: cac@lists.ala.org
Subject: Re: [cac] FW: Can I republish a Russian book from 1970s in the US? - New ReplyI’ve always been told that the jurisdiction of use, not origin, determines how copyright is applied to a work, so we should apply U.S. copyright law here. So if this person’s edition was published in 1971, the copyright expired in 1999, the end of it’s first term. What I’m unclear on is whether the automatic extension rule of 67 years of a second term kicks in for the work or not. If it does, poor Tony is out of luck until 2066!
My tried-and-true source: Lolly Gasaway https://www.unc.edu/%7eunclng/public-d.htm
Lindsey Weeramuni
Manager, Intellectual PropertyMSc LIS
MIT Office of Digital Learning
NE49 - 2nd floor / Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone 617.253.2738 / Fax 617.253.0955
http://odl.mit.edu/she/her/hers
On Oct 25, 2017, at 3:37 PM, Williamson, Lori D. <cac@lists.ala.org> wrote:
Who wants to weigh in? I say no, but I don’t have a lot of experience with international copyright, so please speak up if you do!
Thanks,
Lori
From: Copyright Advisory Network [mailto:webmaster@librarycopyright.net]
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 1:26 PM
To: martinjbrennan@library.ucla.edu; Tammy.Ravas@mso.umt.edu; Williamson, Lori D. <WILLIAMSONL@uhv.edu>; kelly.leu@utrgv.edu; Peggy.Tahir@ucsf.edu; crussell@alawash.org; support@100pianos.com
Subject: Can I republish a Russian book from 1970s in the US? - New ReplyThe following reply was recently submitted to the Copyright Questions forum.
Question: Can I republish a Russian book from 1970s in the US?
Posted On: 2017-10-25 11:26:14
Posted By: TonyA (Tony@ArkitectFitness.com)Hey all, my apologies if this isn't the right place for this kind of question:
I have a rare book from Russia that was originally written in the 60s. The copyright on the version I have is 1971, and it was imported into the states in 81. The copy I have is translated into English by the original Publisher (Progress Publishers and Fizkultura i Sport Publishers).
Anyway, it seems that there is no registered copyright of the book in the US, the original publisher is defunct, the company that imported the book is defunct, and I'm 99% sure the author is deceased.
I'd like to publish a "2nd edition" of this book, with updated graphics, charts, etc... but I'm having a hard time figuring out the legality of such a project. I doubt it would be a big "money maker" it's just a highly sought after book for fitness geeks, and would be a great asset to the fitness community.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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