Page 1 of 1

Copyright with no designated author

Posted: September 30th, 2021, 5:57 am
by jakemalizia
I have previously worked on a solo: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=88318
This is part of a series (14 volumes) - and there is no designated author, nor does the named editor-in-chief stay the same between all volumes - sometimes they are also called "Department Editors".

It seems chapters are written by different people - but they don't make it obvious who has written which - they seem to have gone to lengths to not credit authors.

Is it safe to say that - with each volume being produced by the "National Society of Music" - which seems to now be defunct - that the copyright was held with the society itself, rather than an individual? It's very textbooky.
This is what I assumed with my solo.

I'm looking at volume 2 now:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65865
Am I safe to assume it's okay for non-US contributors, as before?

I know there was a warning for the editor-in-chief PD DOD on the solo - but he didn't actually contribute any of the text - it seems irrelevant in this case to look at the editor for PD status

Re: Copyright with no designated author

Posted: October 23rd, 2021, 1:02 am
by jakemalizia
If anyone can help with this, I would really appreciate it.

I'd like to launch Vol. 2 as a group project soon, but I want to ensure it is not limited to just readers in US.

Re: Copyright with no designated author

Posted: October 23rd, 2021, 1:07 am
by Availle
If it's a work for hire, then you don't need to worry about the individual copyrights of the authors, since they usually turn over the copyright to the person/company etc. who hired them.

If the author is unknown/anonymous, then the copyright is determined by the year of publication. So no issue here either.

I'd say you're good to go! :)

Re: Copyright with no designated author

Posted: October 23rd, 2021, 2:04 am
by Availle
One more thing: If this was published by the "National Society for Music" with various editors and contributors, you can definitely put this in as the author of the book.

We do this with other works as well; for example the "National Geographic Society" or the "Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed." or the "Scientific American" are all authors in our catalog, although neither of them has ever written a word. :lol:

Re: Copyright with no designated author

Posted: October 23rd, 2021, 4:48 am
by jakemalizia
Availle wrote: October 23rd, 2021, 2:04 am One more thing: If this was published by the "National Society for Music" with various editors and contributors, you can definitely put this in as the author of the book.

We do this with other works as well; for example the "National Geographic Society" or the "Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed." or the "Scientific American" are all authors in our catalog, although neither of them has ever written a word. :lol:
Thank you!! Appreciate it.

Do you think Vol.1 (which I did as a solo: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=88318) should have its author changed to National Society of Music, or is it okay to leave the author as the Editor-in-Chief (Daniel Gregory Mason)?

Re: Copyright with no designated author

Posted: October 23rd, 2021, 4:52 am
by Availle
If this were my project, I would change it - mostly to fit in with the other volumes (that's assuming that you want to use the society as author for the rest of them).

Re: Copyright with no designated author

Posted: October 23rd, 2021, 4:54 am
by jakemalizia
Availle wrote: October 23rd, 2021, 4:52 am If this were my project, I would change it - mostly to fit in with the other volumes (that's assuming that you want to use the society as author for the rest of them).
Okay, I will contact the MC, thanks. I'm assuming I can't change the author myself after its been catalogued, as I'm not an admin.