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Re: copyright questions



At the moment one creates a document of any kind that document is protected by the copyright law.  Thus, for what it is worth, I or my heirs will continue to hold the copyright on this document until 50 years after I die or a hundred years from today, whichever comes first unless there is a change in the copyright to shorten or lengthen those times.  

As has already been mentioned the creator retains the copyright during his or her lifetime.  It then passes on to descendants.  The copyright on currently created documents expires 50 years after the death of the creator or 100 years after it was created whichever comes first.  At least I think those are still the correct times.  There was an effort to increase those times, but I do not believe it was passed.
  
I believe a creator can give or sell his or her copyright to an institution along with the papers, but that is rarely done.  

In order have some grounds for defense against being sued for violating copyright, a user who publishes material not in the public domain has to be able to demonstrate that he made a good faith effort to determine who holds the copyright.  That means to be on the safe side just in case, one needs to keep copies of any letters written to obtain permission to publish all or any part of an item that is not in the public domain.  Of course one needs to keep any responses as well.

I believe also that anyone suing for violating the copyright needs to be able to show that unauthorized publication of part or all of a document be it a letter, diary, or whatever has caused a substantial reduction in the value of the document.  



Charles R. Schultz, CA
Professor and Clements Archivist
Cushing Library
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX  77843-5000
c-schultz@tamu.edu
979-862-1555
FAX 979-845-1441

State-of-the-art automation will never beat the wastebasket 
when it comes to speeding up efficiency in the office.
Ann Landers Gem of the Day, July 27, 1994

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