I know some basics of copyright law and was wondering if Robert Louis Stevonson’s works have hit public domain yet since he died in 1894. I have a song I wrote using the words of one of his poems and want to make sure I can play it without infringing on his estate if it still exists. Normally, a copyright is good for 50 years after the individuals death but in certain instances the estate can maintain a copyright (such as in the case with Villa-Lobos). Does anyone out there know of a place to search online for copyright status? I couldn’t find it on the http://www.copyright.gov site but it may be because I was going spacey looking at it.
PS. I phrased something poorly in my OP. There is a place titled search but there is not much relavent information as it basically tells you to go to the copyright office or the Library of Congress. The online search part was equally unhelpful.
The answer is complex. Since Stevenson died in 1894, his works would have been protected in whatever was the then-current law in the jurisdiction where they were published (roughly). I don’t know exactly how many years, but the old U.S. copyright law (which was passed after Stevenson’s death) had a term of 17 years with an option to renew for another 17. A system like that probably was in effect in RLS’s time.
The life plus 50 (now 75) was adopted in the U.S. in 1977; some countries adopted a similar standard before then. However, if RLS’s work fell into the public domain before the law was revised in whatever country it was appropriate, it couldn’t be recopyrighted.
I think the term for an English copyright is longer than in the U.S., but probably not 100 years, and probably does not effect a work by RLS.
If the work was published, that is. If it was unpublished, it’s a whole nother ballgame.
So, most likely, the work is in the public domain, but you’d have to do some research to be sure.
There’s really only one way to find out if someone’s works are in the public domain. That’s if you reprint them and nobody sues you.
Sounds trite, but there is no official organization that says “This is in the public domain.”
A big library will have the Register of Copyrights which is a BIG series of books that lists everything that’s been copyrighted in the US. I’m not sure how far back it goes, but it’s several dozen volumes and not particularly easy to search.
IANAL, but I think it is highly unlikely that any of Stevenson’s works still have copyright protection. Someone might have made a nice reprint with good illustrations, so parts of the work may be under copyright protection.
