Can a UK book that is out of copyright be covered by US copyright

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  • Short answer is yes.

    Check out this Circular by the US Copyright Office: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38b.pdf

    "To be eligible, a work must meet all of the following requirements:

    1 At the time the work was created, at least one author (or rightholder in the case of a sound recording) must have been a national or domiciliary of an eligible source country. An eligible source country is a country, other than the United States, that is a member of the WTO, a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, or subject to a presidential proclamation restoring U.S. copyright protection to works of that country on the basis of reciprocal treatment of the works of U.S. nationals or domiciliaries.

     

    So, by being a member of the Berne Convention, the UK receives "reciprocal treatment"

    You'll see the note "Reg. under GATT/URAA restoration." which refers to the restoration explained in the Circular.

     

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