[LM_NET] HIT: Use of out of print book

[Jeanne Macomber <jmacomber@BELLEVUECHRISTIAN.ORG>]

Hi All,

I received three replies to my Target,  I've posted them below my original 
question. Interestingly, the "book" turned out to be a play and the Copyright.com 
site listed below refered us to the proper agency. Many thanks to Patricia, Melanie 
and Jane for their help! -Jeanne

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Target:

I have a teacher wanting to make multiple copies of an out of print book, enough 
for his whole class. The book is "Sizwe Bansi is Dead" by Athol Fugard and was 
originally published by Viking Press which is a subsidiary of Penguin Group. 
Copyright is May 1976.The Penguin Group referred me to the William Morris Agency, 
which I haven't had time to contact. I wondered since the date is prior to 1981, 
does that mean it's now in Public Domain? Any help in answering this teachers 
request is much appreciated. - Jeanne
HIT:

1.  _ I believe that it is not in the public domain as long as the author is still 
alive, and if he is dead, then his family has a right to renew the copyright



_2. Hi, And no.



The book is still copyrighted. Copyright is expired on books published before 1923. 
For a book published in 1976, copyright won't expire until 75 years *after* the 
death of the author. Your teacher can't make copies for the whole class without 
written permission from the publisher, or by checking on copyright status through 
www.Copyright.com<http://www.Copyright.com> (which will tell you how much it will 
cost for permission from the publisher).



Otherwise, the teacher (and potentially the school system) could be facing federal 
fines of up to $100,000 per copyright violation (which could mean just once for the 
source material or per each copy made).


3. I'm not positive, but my impression would be that if it's copyrighted, it cannot 
be in the Public Domain. I think the duration of the copyright for the item you 
mention is the life of the author plus 95 years. Perhaps the following website  and 
attached pamphlet would be helpful.

http://www.copyrightextension.com/page01.html


Jeanne Macomber, Librarian
Bellevue Christian Jr/Sr High School
1601 98th Avenue NE
Clyde Hill, WA 98004
425-454-4028x124
jmacomber@bellevuechristian.org<mailto:jmacomber@bellevuechristian.org>





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