Message-Id: <mailto:199502141654.KAA20588@library.wustl.edu> Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 11:05:09 -0500 From: mailto:SCWALKER@UTKVX.UTCC.UTK.EDU> To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB
Subj: copyright on reproductionsI must take issue with Mr. Lauzzana's recent advice that copyrights expire after 20 years. According to U.S. copyright law (as quoted in the Green Paper, "Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure," prepared by the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights chaired by Bruce Lehman, Asst. Secretary of Commerce & Commissioner of Patents & Trademarks) "Generally, a copyrighted work is protected for the length of the author's life plus another 50 years." (See 17 U.S.C. Sect. 302 (a) 1988. The terms of protection for works created before Jan. 1, 1978 (the effective date of the 1976 revisions to the Copyright Act) are set forth in Sections 303 and 304 of the Act.)
You may obtain a copy of the current U.S. copyright law by either contacting the U.S. Copyright Office for a paper copy or by accessing the Federal Register online.
I would caution anyone thinking about using copyright works or works which "might" be copyrighted to consult legal counsel and/or contact the copyright holder for permission. There has been a lot of recent discussion on copyright, especially as it pertains to copyright and reproduction rights and the National Information Infrastructure on the CNI (Coalition for Networked Information) Copyright Listserv. Mr. Lehman's Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights is also hosting an ongoing group of Fair Use Conferences in Washington, DC at which several library groups, university representatives, publishers' representatives, the College Art Association and the Visual Resources Association are discussing these issues.
Sandra C. Walker President, Visual Resources Association Visual Resources Specialist, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville mailto:scwalker@utkvx.utk.edu