IANAL, but I believe with respect to question one that the chart is applicable to any work that would be published in the US--so unpublished letters composed by say a French artist could be published without seeking permission in the US, but not necessarily in France (I don't know the law in France on unpublished works)--this is I gather from § 104. Subject matter of copyright: National origin: "(a) Unpublished Works.-The works specified by sections 102 and 103, while unpublished, are subject to protection under this title without regard to the nationality or domicile of the author." With respect to question two, I think if copies exist outside the archive then once the letters enter the public domain, the copies can be used without permission from the archive.
MJ Devaney
Random House
New York, NY
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert A. Baron [mailto:robert[_at_]studiolo.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 4:27 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: unpublished manuscripts
Documents and letters composed by an artist who died before 1920 lie unpublished in a private archive. According to Lolly Gasaway's chart, these works, if unpublished by the end of this year will pass into the public domain in 2003.
Question one:
Is this chart applicable just for US works to be published in the US, or is
it generally applicable for, say, European works as well?
Question two:
Transcriptions and photocopies of documents held in a private archive exist
outside of the archive. If a scholar who received these facsimiles wishes
to publish them in 2003 (and, assuming they are in the public domain as of
that year), does the archive have any control over administering the right
to publish?
Robert Baron
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