UNRESTRICTED COPYING

Uncopyrighted Published Works

Writings published before January 1, 1978 that have never been copyrighted may be photocopied without restriction. Works protected by copyright must bear copyright notice, which consists of the letter "c" in a circle, or the word "Copyright", or the abbreviation "Copr.", plus the year of first publication and the name of the copyright owner [17 U.S.C. #401]. For books published before January 1, 1978, the notice must be placed on the title page or the reverse side of the title page. In the case of a periodical published before January 1, 1978, the notice must be placed either on the title page, the first page of text, or in the masthead. A pre-1978 failure to comply with the notice requirements resulted in the work being injected into the public domain, i.e., unprotected. Copyright notice requirements have been relaxed since 1978, so that the absence of notice on copies of a work published after January 1, 1978 does not necessarily mean the work is in the public domain. [17 U.S.C. #405 (a) and (c)]. You will not be liable for damages for copyright infringement of works published after that date if, after normal inspection, you photocopy a work on which you cannot find a copyright symbol and you have not received actual notice of the fact the work is copyrighted [17 U.S.C. #405 (b)]. However, a copyright owner who discovered your photocopying has the right to prevent further distribution of the copies if in fact the work were copyrighted and the copies are an infringement [17 U.S.C. #405 (b)].

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Published Works with Expired Copyrights

Writings with expired copyrights may be photocopied without restriction. All copyrights prior to 1906 have expired. [17 U.S.C. #304(b)]. Copyrights granted after 1906 may have been renewed; however the writing will probably not contain notice of the renewal. Therefore, it should be assumed all writings dated 1906 or later are covered by a valid copyright, unless information to the contrary is obtained from the owner or the U. S. Copyright Office (see Copyright Office Circular 15t). Copyright Office Publications that explain how to investigate the copyright status of a work are available in the reserve collection of the library.

Unpublished Works

Unpublished works, such as theses and dissertations, may be protected by copyright. If such a work was created before January 1, 1978 and has not been copyrighted or published without copyright notice, the work is protected under the new Act for the life of the author plus fifty years [17 U.S.C. #303], but in no case shall the term of copyright of such a work expire before December 31, 2002.

Government Publications

All U.S. Government publications may be photocopied without restrictions, except to the extent that they may contain copyrighted materials from other sources. Some National Technical Information Service Publications less than five years old may have copyright restrictions [17 U.S.C. #105]. It should be noted that state government works may be protected by copyright.

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