
Libraries Are Scanning Books That Are Secretly in the Public Domain - clydethefrog
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3534j/libraries-and-archivists-are-scanning-and-uploading-books-that-are-secretly-in-the-public-domain
======
norswap
It's not a "quirk" in copyright law or a "loophole" — books before 1964 had a
28 years copyright period, which could be renewed and many authors didn't do
that. It was "secret" because up to recently it was difficult to find out
whether the copyright was renewed, but now the information is easily available
(it was always public, as far as I understand).

~~~
black_puppydog
agreed. the language right there makes it seem as if this is some nefarious
stuff happening. as if ridiculously overblown copyright terms are somehow a
natural default state.

------
tw1010
Am I just dim or does this make it sound like libraries are doing so
unwittingly?

~~~
shakna
Not unwittingly.

We finally have tools to check whether a renewal wasn't submitted, and so can
check against that negative to see if the book should be available publicly,
and can be scanned and returned to the public without negative consequences.

------
jdmoreira
I've tried to find some interesting books in those XMLs but so far I haven't
really found anything worth of note for a modern reader.

