On 4/6/07, Matthew Brown morven@gmail.com wrote:
On 4/6/07, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
The copyright holder of the book still under copyright would still be the copyright holder thus surely Stewart v. Abend would apply?
I can't see that Stewart v. Abend is really applicable in this situation, which is rather different; Stewart v. Abend covers a copyrighted work and the details of how rights over a copyrighted work pass to the heirs on the author's death and how this affects copyright assignments and permission for derivative works.
The scenario I asked about is when two independently copyrighted works, where neither is a derivative work of the other, include the same image that has not been independently copyrighted.
-Matt
It was the case used to back up the copyright claim on "It's a Wonderful Life". I would argue that just because a specific copyright claim has not be renewed that does not mean that the image enters the public domain. That can only happen if all copyright claims failed to be renewed.