Copyright
A copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Wikipedia's article provides a more detailed definition.
Copyright Laws
Each country has its own version of copyright laws.
- For more information on copyright law in the United States, see the United States Copyright Office website.
- For more information on copyright law in various countries, see this article from the University of Pennsylvania's website.
Copyright Types
Below is a list of copyright right types and their general definitions.
Life +50 Copyright
A life +50 copyright is a copyright that expires on January 1 of the year following the 50th anniversary of the author's death.
Life +70 Copyright
A life +70 copyright is a copyright that expires on January 1 of the year following the 70th anniversary of the author's death.
Distributed Proofreaders and Copyrights
Project Gutenberg (PG) hosts, and thus Distributed Proofreaders processes, mostly works in the public domain in the United States, meaning either they are government publications (which cannot be copyrighted), the holders of the copyrights have relinquished their rights to the public domain, or most commonly, the copyrights associated with the works have expired. However, PG hosts some volumes and DP has processed volumes that the copyright holder has given PG the right to distribute without placing the work into the public domain.