User:Hutcheson/Rule 6 FAQ

Copyright FAQ

This book was is copyrighted (or printed) after 1923. How can you be running it?

Given the right circumstances, non-government publications dating as late as 1989 may be in the public domain.

The "right circumstances" may not be trivial to recognize. Which means that mass archives (like Google Books, Hathi Trust, and, well, Archive.org) generally don't distribute at all, or do so tentatively. So our work on these books is especially valuable: not only do we often post the first free internet edition, but our posting is the signal to other entities that the book may be distributed freely.

DP rules require that Project Gutenberg (acting under advice of lawyers) confirm the public-domain status of all projects before they are uploaded. So there is no need for proofers to be concerned about books already running.

What are the sort of circumstances that allow these books to be posted?

Project Gutenberg has full details here

Rule 6, for instance, applies to american publications by american authors, published before 1964, on which copyright was not renewed. I don't keep count, but Rule 6 probably describes a majority of the projects I scan for PP-US. Copyright experts estimate that ~90% of American books first printed before 1964 were not renewed. So there are LOTS of opportunities for us, in many different fields.

How can I, as project manager, clear these books and run them myself?

Any content providers who would like to run specific American books by American authors in the 1923-1963 time frame are invited to contact any of the active rule-6-mining PMs; I'd love to help with the research for these books: PM me with title of book, name of author, date of publication, and whatever information you have that leads you to believe the author is probably an American citizen. (You don't have to be certain; but anything you know may help me track down what's needed.)

I can generally give a preliminary response within several days, letting you know whether it's worthwhile to proceed, and what needs to be done next.