[Commons-l] Public domain worldwide?

[Matt Brown]

On 4/29/06, Matt Brown <morven at gmail.com> wrote:
> Should the nationality of the author take precedence over the place of
> first publication?

To add to my own post: considering the citizenship of the author gives
the problem of what happens when the multiple authors of a work have
different citizenship.  And what if the work was written in a nation
different from the author's citizenship?

First publication is certainly easier, unless there is a good reason why not.

As far as I remember, it's generally advised to only use the pre-1923
date for works first published within the United States. Possibly
treaty obligations (Berne Convention, among others) override national
law when it comes to works originating from outside.

-Matt