[pd-discuss] Metamora

Wed Aug 24 22:40:36 UTC 2011

Michael S. Hart wrote:
> Should be public domain by any current known standards if 1829.

If it was *published* in 1829, yes.  If it was performed in 1829
but not published until much later, it might still be under
copyright in some jurisdictions.  (At least in the US, and
possibly elsewhere, performance does not imply publication.)

We get cases like this in the US, the most famous being _Peter Pan_.
The play was first performed in 1904, and it was even novelized in a
best-selling 1911 book, but the script itself wasn't published until
1928. So the play per se still has a US copyright.  One can still freely
copy the 1911 novel, and create derivative works as long as one can show
that one's deriving just from the novel (or other pre-1923 publications)
and not from elements unique to the play script.

I don't know the publication history of _Metamora_, though a quick
look at worldcat.org only turns up recent editions.  If there
aren't earlier publications, than countries that have a fixed term
for posthumous publications may still uphold a copyright on this play
until that fixed term runs out.  A US copyright may or may not persist
for similar reasons; we really need to know the publication history
to make a definite determination.

John