- "Joseph P. Bauer" <Joseph.P.Bauer.1[_at_]nd.edu> wrote:
> A minor point re: Eldred
>
> In his dissent, in Part VI of his opinion, Justice
> Stevens notes that "only
> one year's worth of creative work -- that
> copyrighted in 1923 -- has fallen
> into the public domain during the last 80 years."
> That seems wrong to
> me. Even with all the interim extensions while the
> 1976 Act was being
> considered, some works went into the public domain
> each year before
> 1978. Then, in 1978, works first published in 1921
> went into the public
> domain. And, in January 1998 (remember, the Sonny
> Bono Act was only
> effective Oct 1998), works published in 1922 went
> into the public
> domain. Finally, as best as I can calculate, works
> copyrighted in 1923 --
> which Justice Stevens referenced -- are still
> subject to copyright
> protection, and will be until 2018.
>
> Did he made a mistake, or do I have this all wrong?
Yes, he made a mistake. Only works published before
1922 are PD. Works pubished in 1923 won't enter the
public domain until 2019 (assuming the copyright term
isn't extended again).
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Received on Tue Jan 28 2003 - 06:32:27 GMT