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Poster: HektorT Date: Sep 23, 2010 1:53pm
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

Yeah, the idea on GATT is that the clock is reset to zero for films that were published outside the US and their copyrights are automatically restored because in principle -- maybe the copyright holders didn't know what needed to be done to correctly secure US copyright. So any film initially published outside the US, that was not already in the PD of that country at the time of the GATT ruling coming into force, whose copyright holders are not 100% American (copyright holders differs from country to country so it is determined by the country of initial publication), and when said film was not published in the USA within 30 days of its initial publication date, then it is eligible for GATT restoration. (note that copyright notice does not come into play here, except for the fact that if the film does NOT have one then it has been ruled such a film has never been published in the US so it cannot be PD). If no NIE (notice of intent to enforce copyright -- which are included in the online copyright registration database) was filed, then the status is the same as a US film which was published in the us from 1964 - 1989 with a notice but not registered. But, in some cases, if a publisher/PD label was already selling the film before the GATT ruling came into effect, they have the right to continue to do so as a Reliance Party. Some PD labels, online sites etc use GATT eligible films with no NIE as Public Domain and restrict them as "USA Only". So they are not viewable/sold outside the USA. So when you see "Any Gun Can Play" as PD, it falls into the above categories. That is the simplified version of GATT copyright restoration, although there are other circumstances that could change things.
This post was modified by HektorT on 2010-09-23 20:53:09

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Poster: Blade_Runner Date: Sep 23, 2010 3:04pm
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

So long story short... Do I upload or not?

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Poster: Mystic550 Date: Sep 23, 2010 4:46pm
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

I checked the thread listed above. I went to USCO but the only thing I could find referenced "failure of renewal". I didn't find anything on never registering.

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#104a



(6) The term “restored work” means an original work of authorship that —

(A) is protected under subsection (a);

(B) is not in the public domain in its source country through expiration of term of protection;

(C) is in the public domain in the United States due to —

(i) noncompliance with formalities imposed at any time by United States copyright law, including failure of renewal, lack of proper notice, or failure to comply with any manufacturing requirements;

(iii) lack of national eligibility;

(D) has at least one author or rightholder who was, at the time the work was created, a national or domiciliary of an eligible country, and if published, was first published in an eligible country and not published in the United States during the 30-day period following publication in such eligible country; and

(E) if the source country for the work is an eligible country solely by virtue of its adherence to the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, is a sound recording.

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Poster: HektorT Date: Sep 25, 2010 5:41am
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

>>I checked the thread listed above. I went to USCO but the only thing I could find referenced "failure of renewal". I didn't find anything on never registering.<< Never registering is neither here nor there if no date is specified. Since during some time periods in the past not registering would have deprived the copyright holder of certain rights, then GATT restoration allows "never registered works" to get those rights back "(i) noncompliance with formalities imposed at any time by United States copyright law..." In the above text "formalities" refer to anything that is required to secure copyright (i.e. the formal procedure). So this means "works that are in the public domain because they didn't do what was necessary to secure copyright". You quote a summary text, not a step by step. There are books that you can buy that do give a step by step, or websites referred to in this forum that give a step by step (as i have posted many times, maybe people find it too confusing to use). Do you post or not? Well if you are not a reliance party, and since the video is available outside of the USA by posting on this website, you probably should not post it.
This post was modified by HektorT on 2010-09-25 12:41:11

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Poster: billbarstad Date: Sep 24, 2010 8:45am
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

Thanks for this. I've read it maybe 10 times. The law, legal language, makes my brain hurt, but I think I understand what you've written now.

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Poster: Blade_Runner Date: Sep 24, 2010 4:28pm
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

So no.

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Poster: billbarstad Date: Sep 24, 2010 5:24pm
Forum: feature_films Subject: Re: Are any of these PD

Yeah, no answers here.