Hi lbro,
Whether or not your four books are in the public domain boils down to
whether or not their copyrights were renewed. Renewals must be made in
the 28th year from the date of copyright. Three of your books (# 1, 3
& 4) came up for renewals between 1978 - 2004 and searchs for these
years are available online at the Copyright Office's website. The
fourth (# 2), came up for renewal in 1968 or 1969 and those years are
available by downloading TIFF documents .
1978 - 2004 (renews copyrights from 1950 - 1977)
You can see copyright registration records from 1978 onward from the
Copyright Office's Copyright Records web site. This will include
renewals for copyrights from 1951 onward (and some, but not all,
renewals for 1950 copyrights), as well as original registrations from
1978 onward.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/
1968 Renewals:
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/1968r.html
1969 Renewals:
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/1969r.html
WORKS PUBLISHED IN THE US
1923 through 1963: Published with notice but copyright was not
renewed: In the public domain
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm
>>>>>> RECORDS SEARCH
U.S. Copyright Office Search:
http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html
"This form searches the U. S. copyright renewal records. Any book
published during the years 1923-1963 which is found in this file is
still under copyright... Books published before 1923, or before Jan.
1, 1964 and not renewed, are out of copyright..."
"Note that a renewal may be shown on a book but only the preface,
illustrations, or translation are actually copyright. Sometimes this
is indicated with an abbreviation "NM" meaning "new matter". For
example, searching for charles dickens pickwick finds seven items, of
which four are only cross references. The remaining three specify as
"new matter" items such as illustrations, introductions, or an
afterword; the main text of Pickwick Papers is public domain (The
Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was published in 1836-37, and
Charles Dickens died in 1870)."
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~lesk/copyrenew.html
Data Fields in Copyright Cataloging Online Records
http://www.copyright.gov/docs/datafields.html
>>> 1) Profitable Poker by Hubert Phillips / Arco Publishers 1960
* Original work in 1960 publication is in the public domain.
U.S. Copyright Renewal Records Search: Hubert Phillips: Title not
found / copyright not renewed:
TITL: Chess.
AUTH: Henry Golombek & Hubert Phillips
TITL: Caliban's problem book.
AUTH: Hubert Phillips
TITL: My best puzzles in mathematics.
AUTH: Hubert Phillips
---
REISSUED (Library of Congress):
Phillips, Hubert, 1891-
Profitable poker.
New York, Arc Books [1966,c1960]
224 p. 19 cm.
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&hd=1,1&CallBrowse=1&SEQ=20050306093015&PID=23064&SID=2
1966 = date of reissue (a reprint of the original)
1960 = copyright date
>>> 2) Poker, The Nation's Most Fascinating Card Game / The United
States Card Playing Company 1950 [Morehead, Albert H.]
* Original work in 1941 publication (without revisions) is in the
public domain. The book you have is the revised version.
Morehead not listed in 1968 or 1969:
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/1968r.html
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/1969r.html
U.S. Copyright Renewal Records Search: Poker, the nation's most
fascinating card game: title not found / copyright not renewed:
TITL: Poker, the nation's most fascinating card game. NM: revisions. RCLM:
FIRST EDITION:
U S. Playing Card Company Cinncinnati 1941 endorsed by association of
american playing card manufacturers
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=200876585
>>> 3) My Secret, How To Play Winning Poker By Albert Morehead / W.R.
Mathews And Son 1957
* Original 1957 publication is in the public domain.
U.S. Copyright Renewal Records Search: Albert Morehead; How to Play
Winning Poker: not renewed. However, it has been reprinted which
confirms that it is in the public domain.
REPRINTED:
Morehead Albert
My Secret How to Play Winning Poker
Gamblers Book Club Spiral Bound Reprint,
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=79999891
>>> 4) The Education of A Poker Player By Herbert O. Yardley / Simon
& Schuster 1957
* Original 1957 publication (without additions) is in the public domain.
U.S. Copyright Renewal Records Search: Education of a Poker Player: a
new edition with additions was registered in 1985. It copyrights the
new additions only, and not the original 1957 text. Given that it has
been reprinted by Orloff Press, confirms that the original is in the
public domain.
Registration Number: RE-274-528
Title: The Education of a poker player. By acHerbert O. Yardley.
Note: Prev. pub. in the Saturday evening post as Winning at poker.
Claimant: Herbert O. Yardley (A)
Effective Registration Date: 30Dec85
Original Registration Date: 11Nov57;
Original Registration Number: A314258.
Original Class: A
Claim Limit: NEW MATTER: additions.
REPRINTED (Library of Congress):
Yardley, Herbert O. (Herbert Osborn), 1889-1958.
The education of a poker player / Herbert O. Yardley.
Athens, GA : Orloff Press, 1998.
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&hd=1,1&CallBrowse=1&SEQ=20050306093015&PID=23064&SID=2
>>> Additional Links
How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work Works First
Published or Copyrighted Between January 1, 1950, and December 31,
1963 ·
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.pdf
The Online Books Page
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Tell Whether a Book Can Go Online?
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/okbooks.html
Well, I hope that isn't too confusing! If you have any questions,
please post a clarification request *before* closing/rating my answer
and I'll be happy to reply.
Thank you,
hummer
Search Strategy:
The Library of Congress
The U.S. Copyright Office
Cornell Copyright Information Center
onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu
Abebooks |
