If I am not mistaken, the originator of written material owns a copyright on
that material for their entire lifetime.
In other words, the material is copyrighted to the originator for his entire
lifetime (unless the originator specifically renounces all rights and states
the material is put in the public domain -- however, even this may not
totally remove the originator's copyrights).
Also, the deal may actually be "the originator's lifetime plus XX years"
(where XX is some number of years of which I don't know the number).
After the originator's death (or death plus XX years) the material
"automatically" transfers to the public domain unless someone obtains the
rights and continues them by registration. This transfer of rights can also
be done while the originator is still alive. This is why there are many
songs, for example, that "belong to someone". For example, many composers
works from hundreds of years ago have passed to the public domain, but the
song "Happy Birthday to You" is copyrighted with rights of ownership by (I
think) one of the Beatles (who I think was Paul McCartney, but I may be
mistaken).
This also is for example why someone like Michael Jackson can "buy and own"
lots of songs that he never wrote.
Roy
'60 TR3 TS63103LO (in restoration)
techman@metrolink.net
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