Hey there!
There's a work I'm hoping to read, and while the original text is definitely in the public domain, the earliest English translation of it was copyrighted in 1930. According to US copyright law, if the copyright was never renewed then I should be good to go - but I'm struggling to figure out how to find when/if that copyright has ever been renewed.
The text in question is Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," translated by Talcott Parsons (the one originally from 1930). So far, I've been able to find online PDFs of the book that reference the 1930 copyright, and this free edition online which... may or may not be legal? Would love some advice on this if anyone has experience copyright-hunting!
Finding a translation's copyright
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mightyfelix
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I can't say for sure whether this text you've linked to is really legal or not. It may be. It may not be. The copyright could still be valid, but the holders of it might not care. But because we don't know for sure, we won't be able to use that source.
For books that were published less than 95 years ago, it's very difficult to prove that the copyright was never renewed. We're not equipped to do that here. The only source we really trust completely to do that, and to do it well, is Project Gutenberg. So if they determine that a work is PD, in spite of being less than 95 years old, we can use their text. Otherwise, it's not worth the risk of legal action.
For books that were published less than 95 years ago, it's very difficult to prove that the copyright was never renewed. We're not equipped to do that here. The only source we really trust completely to do that, and to do it well, is Project Gutenberg. So if they determine that a work is PD, in spite of being less than 95 years old, we can use their text. Otherwise, it's not worth the risk of legal action.
I'm not an authority, but the text in question was first copyrighted in 1930, then renewed in 1958, which adds 47 years. It appears then that the copyright renewal would have expire at the end of 2005.
Based on this fact pattern, the text would not come into the public domain (U.S.) until January 1, 2026.
Note: I am not a lawyer, but have submitted and received public domain (PD) clearances from PG for books copyrighted/published between 1926 and 1963, where the copyright was not renewed. It's often a rather onerous task of gathering and providing the information necessary to be included in such requests (called "Rule 6" requests) to PG, as there are additional requirements beyond the non-renewal criteria to determine PD status.
Don (who produces PD ebooks for PG over at Distributed Proofreaders)
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knotyouraveragejo
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The following applies to the date Don posted -
Works Registered or First Published in the U.S. from 1926 through 1963 that were published with copyright notice and the copyright was renewed - copyright term is 95 years after publication date. (see https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain)
The 1976 Copyright Act increased the extension term for works copyrighted before 1978 that had not already entered the public domain from 28 years to 47 years, giving a total term of 75 years. This was again extended as a result of The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 which extended copyright protection for works published before January 1, 1978, by 20 years to a total of 95 years from their publication date - (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act)
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