How to I get the rights to print an out of print book? I am in the
speaking business and own and great personal development book from 1918.
I want to reprint the book again with a forward by me and sell at
my events. What specifically do I have to do secure the rights and do
it correctly? If it is in the public domain and the publisher is out
of business how do you do it. Thanks for your help

Hi chipper6,

Not to worry, all is well. Your 1918 book is safely in the "public
domain" and you are free to reprint and sell it to your heart's
content (no permissions are needed). In addition, you will hold the
rights to any new matter that you may add (your new forward).

>>> Public Domain

When U.S. Works Pass Into the Public Domain:
"Published before 1923: In public domain"
http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

How do I find out whether the book is in the public domain?
"Anything copyrighted prior to 1923 is in the public domain.
(Practically speaking, this includes anything published prior to 1923,
since publication without copyright put the work straight into the
public domain."
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/okbooks.html#whatpd

>>> Derivatives

When a book is reprinted, the new copyright only pertains to anything
that has been added or changed.

COPYRIGHT PROTECTION IN A DERIVATIVE WORK: USCO circular 14:
Copyright registration of a revised edition of a public domain work
extends only to the revisions, not to the original material.
"The copyright in a derivative work covers only the additions,
changes, or other new material appearing for the first time in the
work. It does not extend to any preexisting material and does not
imply a copyright in that material.
One cannot extend the length of protection for a copyrighted work by
creating a derivative work. A work that has fallen in the public
domain, that is, which is no longer protected by copyright, may be
used for a derivative work, but the copyright in the derivative work
will not restore the copyright of the public domain material. Neither
will it prevent anyone else from using the same public domain work for
another derivative work. In any case where a protected work is used
unlawfully, that is, without the permission of the owner of copyright,
copyright will not be extended to the illegally used part."
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.html

"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

>>> Additional Links

Gutenberg Project: 
"Project Gutenberg is the oldest producer of free electronic books
(eBooks or etexts) on the Internet. Our collection of more than 15.000
eBooks was produced by hundreds of volunteers. Most of the Project
Gutenberg eBooks are older literary works that are in the public
domain in the United States. All may be freely downloaded and read,
and redistributed for non-commercial use"
http://www.gutenberg.org/

A Possible Exception for the Pre-1923 Public Domain Rule
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/c-fineprint.html

The Online Books Page
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Tell Whether a Book Can Go Online?
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/okbooks.html

Search for copyright information:
Registrations of books, music, films, sound recordings, maps,
software, photos, art, and multimedia. Also includes all renewals.
http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html

I hope I've been able to shed some light for you on this complicated
subject. 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

A search was not required as I've already done extensive research on this subject.

that is what I needed to know - I had thought that was the case and
wanted to make absolutely sure - thanks!

Just do it!

It's well out of copyright.

You only need to get permission if the work has not fallen out of copyright.

Would this not depend on where (i.e. in which country, in the US or
elsewhere) the book in question was originally published?

Hi tp,

Sure, you are correct.

How Long Is a Work Copyright-Protected Worldwide?
"The term of copyright protection varies from country to country
around the world, as determined by national legislation. The countries
of the European Union, however, harmonized their respective terms in
1994. In the E.U. countries, the term of protection is the lifetime of
the artist plus 70 years, except in Spain where the term is life of
the artist plus 80 years, and in France where the two world wars have
served to give artists whose careers were affected by the wars, a
cumulative term of life of the artist plus 84 years and 203 days."

I erred in assuming that the book was published in the U.S. but I'm
sure chipper6 will post a clarification with more details if needed.

Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it.
hummer

You're welcome, chipper6. Thank you for your thank you, I appreciate
it. Good luck with your book. Sincerely, hummer

The book was printed in the usa - it says copyright, 1918 - had 6
other printings > 1925 as the 6th printing. I went to the
copyright.gov site and did a search for author it is of course not
there because of his age. DO I need to check anything else???Thanks.
Chip

Hi Chip,

No, everything sounds fine, the original material published in 1918 is
free to use (even if someone else has already republished it). Power
up - you are go for launch.

"One cannot extend the length of protection for a copyrighted work by
creating a derivative work. A work that has fallen in the public
domain, that is, which is no longer protected by copyright, may be
used for a derivative work, but the copyright in the derivative work
will not restore the copyright of the public domain material. Neither
will it prevent anyone else from using the same public domain work for
another derivative work."
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.html

Have fun,
hummer

I believe I know the book you speak of. Barnes and Noble carries it as
a small book and started reprinting it a few years ago. Its also
available free online as a e-book by another speaker. It sits by my
bed and is excellent.