[pd-discuss] GATT copyright restoration rules misinterpreted by hathitrust? (and public domain remaining locked...)

Thu Dec 20 17:09:53 UTC 2012

If the Celso Ulpiani who died in 1919 is indeed the author of Le Georgiche, then you are possibly right: it is likely in the public domain in the United States.  Copyright was only restored in works that were not in the public domain in their home country as of 1 January 1996 (or the date of adherence to the Berne Convention or WTO, if later).  

Furthermore, even if the author had died after 1926 (and hence was eligible for GATT restoration), a book published in 1919 should be in the public domain in the U.S.; only titles published since 1923 are still protected. My understanding is that initially the processing rules followed by the Copyright Review Management System-World system (http://www.lib.umich.edu/imls-national-leadership-grant-crms-world) would not consider works if a post-1923 edition of the work had been published.  That may have part of the decision-making here.  (I have been told that policy is being changed.)  

Alternatively, the CRMS-World project is initially only looking at works from the UK, Canada, Australia, and Spain.  As a consequence, they would not know if there are exceptions in Italian law (such as there are in some other countries) that could extend copyright duration past the normal life +70 term, thus making restoration possible.  This may have been why they did not add this title to the workflow.  They should have explained this to you, however, rather than sending the response that they did.  (BTW, according to HathiTrust's November update, the CRMS-World project has reviewed over 30,000 titles and opened over 15,000 of them to the world for public access.)

Most of all, though, the question may have hung on whether the Celso Ulpiani who has birth and death dates in the Italian encyclopedia that you cite is the actual author of the volume.  There are no death dates provided for Ulpiani in his entry in VIAF, including the entry from the Vatican Library that lists Le Georgiche as one of his works.  Name authority work must be very precise, and the HathiTrust is being careful not engage in the sort of sloppy analysis that other sites, such as Wikipedia or the Internet Archive, follow.

My hope would be that if you could provide the HathiTrust with an authoritative reference that established that the Celso Ulpiani who died in 1919 also wrote Le Georgiche, HathiTrust would review their decision not to open it to the world.  This may have to wait, however, until they can determine whether there are any exceptions in Italian copyright law that could lead to a longer term than life +70.

Peter B. Hirtle, FSAA   
Senior Policy Advisor 
Digital Scholarship & Preservation Services 
Cornell University Library
2B53 Kroch Library                              
Ithaca, NY  14853
peter.hirtle at cornell.edu
t.  607.255-4033 
f.  607.255-9524
http://vivo.cornell.edu/individual/vivo/individual23436
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums:
http://hdl.handle.net/1813/14142

-----Original Message-----
From: pd-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org [mailto:pd-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of fred.harris
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 9:07 AM
To: pd-discuss at lists.okfn.org
Subject: [pd-discuss] GATT copyright restoration rules misinterpreted by hathitrust? (and public domain remaining locked...)

Dear publicdomainers I have a question about  GATT COPYRIGHT RESTORATION RULES (that confuse so many people)

browsing the hathitrust catalog

I noted a book

Le Georgiche

by

Celso Ulpiani

without biographical data (birth and death date)

since I know that Celsio Ulpiani died in 1919

(Acquaviva Picena 1867 Italy - 1919)

according the most authoritative institute of Italian Encyclopedy whose online version is located here

http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/celso-ulpiani/

I informed hathitrust staff that this book is in public domain worldwide (author died 94 years ago)

I received a very quick reply by a gentle staff member and, few hours after this, another reply that said

"WE HAVE DETERMINED THAT, ALTHOUGH THIS BOOK BY CELSO USPIANI MAY NOW BE IN PUBLIC DOMAIN IN ITALY, IT IS NO LONGER IN PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES BECAUSE OF "GATT RESTORATION." BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITY TO MAKE A BOOK AVAILABLE IN FULL VIEW OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT MAKING IT AVAILABLE IN FULL VIEW IN THE UNITED STATES AS WELL, WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LEAVE IT IN LIMITED VIEW EVERYWHERE."

I was very surprised, reading this reply, I'm not a lawyer, but the terms of GATT COPYRIGHT RESTORATION seem to me, to say very different things

I would kindly explain why:

*circular 38b* by *US Copyright Office*
- www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38b.pdf

containing "Highlights of Copyright Amendments  Contained in the URAA"

under paragraph about

**Eligibility Requirements**

that need to be all satisfied, since if even a requisite is not satisfied, the copyright cannot to be restored, in fact it says: *TO BE ELIGIBLE, A WORK MUST MEET ALL OF THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS.* (and a list of these requirements follows this statement)*

poses, amongst others, this condition:

in order to allow copyright restoration of a work, it is needed that:

*2  THE WORK IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE ELIGIBLE SOURCE COUNTRY 
   THROUGH EXPIRATION OF THE TERM OF PROTECTION.*

BUT

the works of Celso Ulpiani  (1867-1919)
- http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/celso-ulpiani/

are in PUBLIC DOMAIN in Italy (source country of author) [life + 70 years after death], so in Italy, Celsio Ulpiani works entered in public domain in 1989, and cannot to be re-copyrighted abroad]

so, they cannot to be re-copyrighted following the GATT rules

so Hathitrust, in my opinion, is able open the works of this author without any worries

I'm wrong? I hope some expert lawyer can read this message, it is a pity that public domain books remain locked due to misinterpretation of laws

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