Hi Logan,
I’m currently working on a project which involves speeches given during WWII. Any idea on the copyright status of these and how to research the copyright? I am based in the UK.
Thanks
Jim
Hi Jim,
Most likely, you won’t have to do much (if any) copyright research for this project partially because of the timeframe involved (1939 to 1945) and the fact that…
- Any work created by an employee of the United States Federal Government while in the course of performing their official duties is automatically in the Public Domain under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. This would of course include speeches given by U.S. Presidents and U.S. Military personnel.
l - All works protected by Crown Copyright fall into the Public Domain fifty years after they are created as verified by this quote taken from a message from the Office for Public Sector Information (formerly the HMSO)…
ll
“Crown copyright protection in published material lasts for fifty years from the end of the year in which the material was first published. Therefore, to use your example, material published in 1954, and any Crown copyright material published before that date, would now be out of copyright, and may be freely reproduced throughout the world.”
This of course would include speeches performed by U.K. officials performing official duties in service of the Crown including Winston Churchill.
Beyond that, if desiring to use speeches performed by Government officials of other countries around the globe other than the U.S. and the U.K., an assessment must be made on a case by case basis as to the copyright durations offered to such works by their country of origin.
If you run into a sticky spot let me know and I will be glad to help.
Thanks Jim!
About The Author:
 Logan Andrew is an online entrepreneur, information publisher, and author that has been using Public Domain material to create profitable products and businesses since 2001. He is also co-author of "The Public Domain Treasure Hunter's Survival Kit" available here. For more info Logan, click here. |
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