[WikiEN-l] Obscure Copyright

[Ray Saintonge]

Sean Barrett wrote:

> I have a document created by a sailor in the [[Kriegsmarine]] during 
> [[World War II]].  Thus, the document is approximately 60 years old, 
> but its author didn't die until 1982.  The document has no copyright 
> notice associated with it and was never published until it was 
> captured by the Allies after the war.  I can justify a claim to fair 
> use for Wikipedia's purposes, but I'd like to determine what its 
> copyright status really is.  Can anyone help me?

In the absence of more detail about the document I would say it's still 
covered by copyright until the end of 2052.  But then I prefer a 
conservative approach when facts are missing.  I presume that this a 
German language document by a German citizen so German law should 
apply.  Copyright notices were a uniquely US requirement.  The copyright 
notice or the fact that the document was stolen by an allied soldier 
should have no bearing on the matter.  The fair use claim is only 
meningful if the document continues to be protected by copyright, but 
ultimately you would have the burden of proof for such a claim.

Ec