The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 5, January 30, 2005, Article 9

ON COPYRIGHT AND REIMBURSING AUTHORS

Jorg Lueke writes: "I wanted to comment on the L.A.Times
story on Copyright law. In working on the Electronic
Numismatist and some other related ideas for digitizing older
works I've run into copyright issues time and again. Sure,
anything before 1923 is clear sailing, but anything between
then and 1963 you really need to research to make sure the
copyright was not renewed. As these records are not all
available online that can involve some cost or a trip to D.C.
Works from 1964 are protected at least 70 years after the
death of the author. Excessive or not, it is very difficult to
track down the owners of the copyright even if you wanted
to. Say a collector published a interesting treatise in 1964.
Having passed away the copyright passed to his heirs, but
how depends on what country and what state he/they reside
in. Tracking the path can become horribly cumbersome.
The end result is that this persons one published contribution
becomes lost for fear of some lost claimant suing for a
violation. While I am all for protecting author's rights I 
think
after an initial term any extensions should at least be filed 
in
a place that can be easily searched. Let the public have
access to all those interesting but forgotten words as we
enter the digital age of words. If anyone has any ideas on
how such proposals might reach the ears of Congress, I'd
be delighted to hear them."

Ed Snible writes: "As a web-publisher of numismatic
works that have lost copyright protection, I would like
to respond to Mr. Mortensen. In E-Sylum v8#4,
Morten Eske Mortensen writes:

"Any copyright laws ought to include a paragraph
'No title can lose the copyrighted status before the author
has been paid the equivalent in royalties of a full salary
for his work.'"

The problem Mr. Mortensen writes about is real.
Numismatic book buyers are apparently unwilling to
purchase books at prices and in quantities sufficient
to provide authors decent wages. Extending copyright
will not help.

Copyright law guarantees copyright for 70 years after the
death of the author (or, in the case of older works, 95 years
after publication). During this period the government provides
free enforcement of a monopoly on printing the book. This
protection is a pretty good deal for the author. Most small
businesses fail; I know of no other industry that receives
governmental protection even seven years after failure --
let alone 70!

For the past two years I've been scanning 19th and early
20th century works on Greek coins for free use on the web.
The long-dead authors receive no payment for the works
I've web-published. Perhaps my contribution helps living
authors? I hope the Digital Historia Numorum makes it
easier for authors to research Greek coins. I also hope
that the free availability of older works pushes book buyers
to target their limited book-buying budget on new authors,
rather than towards the reprint publishing houses.

I would be curious to know the market value of publication
rights to older numismatic works (1900-1950s, say). How
much do Ares, Forni, Durst, University Microfilms, etc.
pay to copyright holders for publication rights?"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

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