Duration of copyright: recent Q&As
by
admin
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last modified
2008-07-21 10:42
July 2008
In these Q&As, we assume you are familiar with the basic copyright principles in our introduction to copyright, and in our Duration of copyright: information sheet
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What does 'in the public domain' mean?
| In Australia, the term 'in the public domain' usually refers to material in which copyright has expired. The term is also sometimes used in other countries to describe material that is excluded from copyright protection under the copyright law of those countries. For example, certain US government documents are not protected by copyright in the US, because of special provisions in US copyright law.
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| Which newspapers, magazines and journals are in the public domain? | Material in which copyright has expired is referred to as being in the “public domain”.
Newspapers,
magazines and journals usually contain works by many different authors (creators).
These works include news reports, opinions, letters to the editor, cartoons and photographs.
The
period of copyright protection is, in most cases, measured from the
death of the author, even if the author did not own copyright. Each work may therefore have a different period of copyright protection. If the work was first published
anonymously and the identity of the author cannot be ascertained on
reasonable inquiry, then the period of copyright protection is measured from the year of publication (rather than the
year of the author's death).
Copyright in a newspaper has expired if:
- the newspaper was published before 1955, AND
- every author (other than a photographer) whose identity can be ascertained died before 1955.
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