[digital-copyright] RE: public domain/searching copyright records

["Clarkin, Deirdre (NIH/NLM) [E]" <clarkid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What kind of use does the faculty member have in mind?

Dee


Deirdre Clarkin
Head, Collection Access Section
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD  20894

301-435-7099



-----Original Message-----
From: Colson, Jeannie [mailto:jcolson@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 4:26 PM
To: digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [digital-copyright] public domain/searching copyright records

Ideas, colleagues?



A faculty member wants to make use of a book published in 1943. Books
published then were copyrighted for 28 years, unless renewed. The renewal
year, then, should have been 1971. Copyright.gov's search begins with 1978, so
is not helpful. Google, interestingly, provides the "Catalog of Copyright
Entries" that includes the original registration with the copyright office,
but not for anything after that. Publisher doesn't seem to exist since
mid-1960s.



Copyright office charges a minimum of $165 to do a search. Would you?
Would you be willing to risk that renewal wasn't done and that the item is
public domain?



Note: I can find images of first 6 pages (up to toc) in one university
library's website, but no full text anywhere.



What do you think? What's my next step?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeannie Colson

Campus Copyright Advisor/Dist. Ed. Librarian

Lee College

Baytown, TX 77522

jcolson@xxxxxxx

281-425-6497