[Foundation-l] PD in Canada, but not the US

[Wily D]

Err, on or after Jan 1, 1946 (a photograph taken that day entered the
Public Domain in Canada at 12:00 Jan 1, 1997).  In fact, all
photographs taken by December 31, 1948 (inclusive) in Canada are in
the Public Domain here, but Uruguay Rounds Agreement means those taken
in '47 and '48 probably are not in the Public Domain Stateside.  (In
1999, Canada extended photographs from "50 years from production" to a
more complicated scheme, so photographs taken in 1948 or previous are
all public domain, as it was a straight 50 years).

Current copyright on photographs is life +50, unless they're produced
for a corporation, in which case its 50 from production, or they
produced for the Queen of Canada or one of her ministries, in which
case its 50 from publication.  For something like the National Film
Board, it's pretty unclear whether the "corporate exception" applies,
Crown copyright applies or both apply and what that means.  Either way
the photographs of Elizabeth's Coronation in '53 taken by the National
Film Board and immeadiately-ishly published are PD here, but may be
problematic for commons.

WilyD

On Mon, May 26, 2008 at 10:09 AM, Padraic <user.padraic at gmail.com> wrote:
> To clarify on the corporate copyright thing: I should have said works made
> after Jan 1 1946 -- since they would not have been PD in Canada on Jan 1
> 1996, when the URAA took effect in the US and ensured the copyright of
> foreign works for 95 years.
>
> I can't speak to Crown copyright, but it's 50 years, so I assume the same
> logic would apply.
>
> 2008/5/26 Wily D <wilydoppelganger at gmail.com>:
>
>> On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 8:51 PM, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net>
>> wrote:
>> > geni wrote:
>> >> 2008/5/25 Padraic <user.padraic at gmail.com>:
>> >>
>> >>> Based on our amateur legal analysis at [[Commons:Deletion
>> requests/Library
>> >>> and Archives Canada non-PD images]], there is a potentially large class
>> of
>> >>> images which are PD in Canada, but not the US: those works whose
>> copyright
>> >>> was initially held by corporations (or the Crown), which expire 50
>> years
>> >>> after publication, but only after 95 years in the US due to the URAA.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> In the case of crown copyright can the government legaly enforce any
>> >> claim or would they run into a domestic lawsuit if they tried?
>> >>
>> > Domestic lawsuit over what?  After 50 years it's in the public domain.
>> > While the issue has previously been raised about public domain being
>> > overridden by crown privilege this seems contrary to the Canadian court
>> > tendency to diminish the influence of crown privilege.
>>
>> Err, presumeably the Queen of Canada could try to sue Wikimedia or the
>> uploaders in an American court.  These images are clearly PD in Canada
>> (and some, at least, are explicitly acknowledged as such) but may not
>> be PD in the States.
>>
>> >> Secondly are you sure the US wouldn't consider crown copyright expired
>> >> the equivalent of released into the public domain?
>>
>> Err, this is very ambigious, but it's also not clear whether the
>> images in question, when produced by Crown Corporations, would fall
>> under Crown Copyright, or whether they're PD through a clause in
>> Canadian Copyright law that puts photographs into the public domain 50
>> years after they're taken if their first own is a corporation.
>>
>> > One of the problems here is the continuing uncertainty over the US
>> > non-recognition of the rule of the shorter term.  Canada does
>> > specifically recognize the shorter term except as it relates to works
>> > from the United States or Mexico.
>> >
>> >
>> > Ec
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>>
>> WilyD
>>
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