A Study of the Copyright Renewal Rate for Maps

Authors

  • Linda Musser

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/istl49

Abstract

This study examines the copyright renewal of maps published in the United States from 1923 to 1950 and compares the results with a recent study of copyright renewals for books. Results indicate that, while the average copyright renewal rate for maps appears similar to that of books, the average was skewed higher by a single publisher whose renewal rate was much higher than average. With the data from that publisher excluded, the average copyright renewal rate dropped to 10% meaning that a significant number of maps copyrighted in the U.S. in the first half of the 20th century are probably in the public domain due to lack of copyright renewal.

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References

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Hirtle, P. 2008. Copyright renewal, copyright restoration, and the difficulty of determining copyright status. D-Lib Magazine 14 (7/8). [cited 2019 Dec 6]. Available from: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july08/hirtle/07hirtle.html.

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Published

2019-12-07

How to Cite

Musser, L. (2019). A Study of the Copyright Renewal Rate for Maps. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (93). https://doi.org/10.29173/istl49

Issue

Section

Refereed Articles
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