Stanford launches Copyright Renewal Database

[Mimi Calter <mcalter@stanford.edu>]

News Release - April 2, 2007

Stanford launches Copyright Renewal Database
Copyright Renewal Database <http://collections.stanford.edu/determinator/>

An online database that enables people to search 
copyright-renewal records for books published in the United 
States between 1923 and 1963 has been launched by Stanford 
University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR).

SULAIR developed the Copyright Renewal Database, dubbed the 
"Copyright Determinator," with a grant from the Hewlett 
Foundation. The effort built on Project Gutenberg's 
transcriptions of the Catalog of Copyright Entries, which was 
published by the U.S. Copyright Office. (Project Gutenberg at 
<http://www.gutenberg.org/> produces free electronic books.)

"This database is an important tool for anyone researching the 
copyright status of U.S. works," said Stanford attorney Lauren 
Schoenthaler. "Having a single, electronic source for all 
renewals for these works will greatly speed the research 
process."

Determining the copyright status of books has become a pressing 
issue as libraries and businesses develop plans to digitize 
materials and make works in the public domain widely available. 
In order to appropriately select books for digitization, these 
organizations need to determine efficiently and with some 
certainty the copyright status of each work in a large 
collection. The Determinator supports this process, bringing all 
1923-1963 book-renewal records together in a single database and, 
more significantly, making searchable renewal records that had 
previously been distributed only in print.

U.S. works published from 1923 to 1963 are the only group of 
works for which renewal is now a concern. Renewals have expired 
for works published before 1923, and they are generally in the 
public domain. The 1976 Copyright Act made renewal automatic for 
works published after Jan. 1, 1964. Determining the renewal 
status of works published between 1923 and 1963 has been a 
challenge; the Copyright Office received renewals as early as 
1950, but only records received by that office after 1977 are 
available in electronic form. Renewals received between 1950 and 
1977 were announced and distributed only in a semi-annual print 
publication. For the Determinator databases, Stanford has 
converted the print records to machine-readable form and combined 
them with the electronic renewal records from the Copyright 
Office.

SULAIR continues to refine the database and welcomes feedback. 
http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/2007/pr-copy-040407.html

Mimi Calter
Executive Assistant to the University Librarian
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
voice:     +1-650-725-5813
fax:       +1-650-725-4902
e-mail:    mcalter@stanford.edu