New Copyright Database Is No Match for Orphan Works
When the Stanford University library recently announced the launch of a new Copyright Renewal Database, at least one prominent publication said it would help solve the thorny orphan works problem. If only it were so simple.
Stanford’s new database indicates whether a book published in the United States between 1923 and 1963 is still protected by copyright in the U.S. Books published between those dates needed to have been registered for copyright and to have had their registrations renewed. If they didn’t, they fell into the public domain. Earlier books are generally in the public domain already, while those published in 1964 and later were granted extended rights by Congress. Stanford’s is the first complete, online database of renewals received by the U.S. Copyright Office between 1950 and 1993. One issue for orphan works is that, for those books whose registration renewals extended their copyright terms, the database doesn’t necessarily identify the current rightsholder, who could be a descendent or a corporate successor to the original rightsholder.
“The database only tells you if the work was renewed,” says Mimi Calteri, executive assistant to Stanford’s head of libraries. “You still have the business of tracking down the copyright holder. It will tell you who renewed the copyright, and that could be a lead, but it doesn’t mean that the person who had the copyright hasn’t transferred it on.”
Calteri said Stanford is considering additional functionality to the database in the future to allow people who have copyright information about a particular book to add that information to the database records.
