Figuring out if a work is renewed can be a tricky business. The only official records of renewal are held by the Copyright Office in Washington D.C. However records before January 1, 1978 are not available online. The only way to gain access to these accurate and official records of copyright renewals is to either:
- Go to the Copyright office in person, in Washington D.C. , and research their records using paper card catalogs OR;
- Pay the copyright office $165 an hour to search the copyright records for the original copyright and the renewal notice.
In 2013 should we have to rely on paper card catalogs to help determine if a work is in the public domain? Moreover, Is a work really public domain if it costs $165 an hour to know it’s in the public domain?
Read the full article @ NewMediaRights.org.
