[Q] What happens if copyright-owners cease to exist?

I have noticed quite a few cases when copyright-owners cease to exist (e.g., the government of a defuncted regime in Southeast Asia, or Yugoslavia) a number of companies just go ahead photocopying materials and sell to the public. This must be an international legaL issue, I guess. How does it work out? If the Yugoslavian government now is no more, can I simply take a book copyrighted by that government, reproduce it, and sell it in the United States? I am not a lawyer but this is some area I want to educate myself. Any suggestion on what I should read more about this?

T. T. Nguyen
<nguyen2[_at_]watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> Received on Tue Mar 01 1994 - 00:03:33 GMT