Michael Snow wrote:
...
17 USC 203 ... provides ... that derivative works prepared before
termination may continue to be utilized.
I'm not sure if subsequent edits which preserve verbatim text are
derivative works. It's certainly worth figuring out. Section 101 of
the Copyright Act defines "[a] 'derivative work' as a work based upon
one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical
arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version,
sound recording, art reproduction, abridgement, condensation, or any
other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted.
"The copyright in a derivative work is independent of, and does not
affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence of,
any copyright protection in the preexisting material." 17 U.S.C.
§103(2).
The preexisting material in the original work is part of the
derivative work, but the copyright in the derivative work extends only
to the material contributed by the author of the derivative work, as
distinguished from the preexisting material employed in the work. 17
U.S.C. §103(2). The copyright owner of the derivative-work copyright
does not obtain exclusive copyright rights in the preexisting
material.
There goes my hopes of my pension.
If the year-over-year increase rate at which the Foundation is able to
raise funds stays constant, payment of full "willfully infringing"
damages plus a generous pension for all employees and active editors
would be easily within reach.