Help talk:Copyright and Wikisource

For a long while I've been thinking that WS needs to make User:Zhaladshar/Copyright more accessible to regular users. It's a fairly comprehensive list in dealing with copyright issues. Where would be a good place to add this? I was thinking here (as opposed to Copyright), since the list is more of a reference material than an actual policy or description of how WS operates. 16:36, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Copyright of laws, constititions, declarations, and resolutions?
What, if any, are the separate provisions of US and international copyright law governing the reproduction of laws, constitutions, declarations, and resolutions formed and published inside or outside the US?

This question is inspired by the observations that, at the time of this writing, certain documents of this category, for the example, the African National Congress Freedom Charter, are conspicuously absent from Wikisource. It is unknown to me, and as far as I have determined, unclarified by the available Wikisources documents, whether this or similar texts reproduced without license constitues an abuse of copyright restrictions.

Epl 22:37, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Former Soviet Union public domain claim being disputed
Many Wiki sites, such as Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, have circulated that Works published by the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics before 27 May 1973 were not protected by International Copyright Conventions and are thus in the public domain. However, this claim is being disputed there. See also w:Template talk:PD-USSR and commons:Template talk:PD-Soviet for talks.--Jusjih 19:12, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

State Government of California works
Claims that State Government of California works are in the public domain are being disputed, see w:Template talk:PD-CAGov for the talks.--Jusjih 19:34, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

UK
In the "Country by Country Analysis" the UK term is given as life plus 70, which is currently correct. However, the UK used a Life+50 term until the The Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 act went into effect in 1996. Thus If I read the rules right, the works of UK authors who died in 1945 or before were in the public domain in the UK on 31 December 1995, and thus did not have their US copyrights revived by the US URAA (GATT) act in 1996. If such works were then in the public domain in the US (because they were never published in the US, or published before 1964 but without copyright renewal, or published before 1978 in the US without a proper notice, etc) they remained in the public domain in the US. For example a work created by a UK author who died in 1943, published in the UK in 1923 and in the US in 1927, whose US copyright was never renewed, is now PD in the US

I suggest that the UK entry be changed to read "Life+70; was Life+50 through 1995" because of the importance of this distinction. The same situation may apply to other countries, I'm not sure. 205.210.232.62 17:11, 21 September 2006 (UTC)


 * If anyone know earlier facts not retroactively superseded by new facts, please add with any relevant evidence.--Jusjih 19:39, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The UK change was retroactive, and hence brought works back into copyright which were previously public domain. Physchim62 14:57, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Taiwan
I have found that Taiwan had Life+30 through 1991. I have added this with links to Chinese Wikisource. The new law in 1992 has never been retroactive so works by Taiwanese authors died through 1961 and organizational works (now 50 years, previously 30 years) published through 1961 have entered the public domain there in 1991. These early works are also in the PD in the USA.--Jusjih 16:22, 24 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Copyright Act (Republic of China) has had year-end copyright expiration and life+50 only since the amended law became effective on June 10, 1992. Before that, the copyright term was life+30 without year-end expiration. The new law has never been retroactive. While Chinese Wiksource now has all historical versions of the Copyright Act of the Republic of China, unfurtunately has English versions for a few recent ones only. I will post them here as PD-TW when I have time.--Jusjih 17:33, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Communist Manifesto
Help, please. I'd like to avoid the 'communist manifesto' from being deleted. The copy currently available through Wikisource indicates that the translator is unknown. The copy there is identical to the Samuel Moore translation of 1888, and the document is in the public domain. I can't find any way to report this information to anyone on wikisource, although I tried to edit the document on line. If anyone would like to help me out with this, I'm at [REmoved email] and open to any discussion of it.

thanks,

derek hrynyshyn


 * Don't worry. When you find out who the translator is just post it on the text (or the talk page if you are unsure how to handle it)  And then you can remove Translator?.  The only things which will be deleted are ones which no translator is ever found or where the translator is found and theier work is still under copyright.  Thank you for finding this information for us!--BirgitteSB 17:27, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

PD-manifesto - see a question and talk here
A question and hopefully a discussion about the licence PD-Manifesto see please here: oldwikisource:Scriptorium, -jkb- 18:10, 9 January 2007 (UTC)