Re: finding publisher no longer in business

On Sat, Oct 30, 1999, Ron Kilponen <kilponen[_at_]bignet.net> wrote:
>
> On 10/28/1999, Bob Schmidt <bobsch[_at_]olypen.com> wrote:
> >
> > I am trying to track down the copyright status of a book published
> > by a firm that appears to longer be in business -- at least nothing
> > comes up with any search engine I've tried nor are they on web sites
> > listing book publishers. The company was Tudor Publishing of New York.
>
> I too continue to have the same problem, different publisher. I know
> there are directories of publishers in a library with a good reference
> section. Some of the titles I've used, although unsuccessful, are
> Dictionary of Literary Biography, Publishers International ISBN
> Directory, if you find these, then I would also ask the librarian
> for other such texts.
>
> > I have run the book through the Library of Congress' copyright
> > database site but that covers only period since 1978. Since the book
> > was published earlier (1949), I would have to dig into the Catalog
> > of Copyright Entries, something apparently not available over the
> > internet. I figure it would probably be easier trying to track down
> > what became of the original publisher and go from there.
>
> The other option is to have the copyright office do a search of the
> records. If you have a title, authors name, and/or publisher you may
> wish to send the information to them for a quote. I believe the search
> that I had done was about $70. I did obtain an assignment of the title
> I was researching to another company which quickly filed for bankruptcy.
> Boy, I gotta tell ya, I'm still looking and have not been successful in
> any of my tactics. I also had some state incorporation documents
> searched in Del. where the publishers were incorporated.
>
> The bankruptcy info/docket is ridiculous and my client cannot afford
> to order the whole thing. It seems the assets were dispersed amongst
> different companies/individuals and I can't tell where the title I'm
> interested in has gone.
>
> > Are there any search engines specific to locating companies that
> > are no longer in business or have been bought by other companies?
> >
> > Any insights/guidance appreciated. Thanks and kindest regards, Bob.
>
> That's all I can offer, but if you come up with anything good, please
> share. I'd appreciate any ideas that you may have also.

A user of any intellectual property has a general duty to make sure pre-existing works are recognized and the owner's rights respected. This is one reason we do these investigations.

For the amount of energy I see being invested here, individuals and entities facing this situation should consider turning their "Copyright Due Diligence" work over to a professional copyright research company. This type of copyright ownership research used to be esoteric work reserved for Washington, D.C. specialty firms. Today, a number of trademark search and document retrieval firms offer copyright title research, ownerhship histories, etc.

I reccomend the use of professionals primarily because these undertakings are almost always a "best efforts" sort of project. You can simply never be certain you've exhausted all avenues of investigation because of the non-uniform way these assets can be treated. So, it is to be expected that one would always wonder if there was not some other rock to be turned over to find information on a particular work.

Another value of having having a professional firm do the work is that if assigned correctly, it helps address (and hopefully fulfill) the duty of a party to investigate a work they seek to exploit. This way, even if a rights holder surfaces, you will not be found to have acted willfully or with disregard of third party rights -- an important element on damages and fees should suit arise.

And I do not own, work for or have any stake in these firms. As an IP professional, I simply use them because, if used well, they protect my client's interests.

Jamie Powers
3D Counsel/Wilkinson Barker et al.
Jpowers[_at_]wbklaw.com Received on Mon Nov 01 1999 - 16:29:22 GMT