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The Wait is Over! Public Domain Day 2019

What do F. Scott Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, Buster Keaton, and Jelly Roll Morton all have in common? They all have works that are entering the public domain in the U.S. today on Public Domain Day!

Today is Public Domain Day and this year’s celebration is a special one for those of us in the United States. After a 20-year pause, works published in the United States will once again be entering the public domain on a rolling basis. This year, we welcome works first registered or published in the United States in 1923.

As public domain works, these books, films, compositions, and works of art can be used without copyright restrictions. This means, for example, that instructors can make copies of literary works for their students, ensembles can create new arrangements and publicly perform musical works, and students can adapt and remix works freely into their own projects and assignments. Works in the public domain can be used to encourage and support learning, scholarship, and creative endeavors.

Why the 20-year wait?

Copyright protects many different types of creative works, including books, film, music, and art. And while the U.S. Constitution requires copyright be granted only for “limited Times,” the term of copyright protection has increased over the years. In 1998, Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), which extended the term of protection for published works by an additional 20 years. For works published before 1978, this meant a term of protection of 95 years from publication date. We have now reached the point where eligible works are reaching the 95-year mark.

In addition to these published works, we will see certain unpublished works enter the public domain in the U.S. on this day; specifically, unpublished works from authors who died during 1948 and unpublished works created in 1898 for anonymous and pseudonymous authors and works made for hire, and unpublished works when the date of the author’s death is unknown.[1]

Celebrating the Public Domain at OSU

Copyright Services has collaborated with partners across OSU to share public domain works in the University Libraries collections, focusing on musical compositions published or registered in the U.S. in 1923. Tomorrow, January 2, you can visit the Public Domain Day Project website (go.osu.edu/PublicDomainDay) to learn more about the partners involved in this project, the events planned for 2019, our plans for releasing new recordings of select musical works (to be dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons CC0), and to access music scores and audio. New works will be added throughout 2019.

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By Maria Scheid, Copyright Services Coordinator at Copyright Services, The Ohio State University Libraries

[1] Depending on the work you are dealing with, there may be some additional considerations in determining the copyright status of a work. Two great resources for thinking through copyright term and public domain are the American Library Association’s Public Domain Slider and Peter Hirtle’s Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States chart.

 

Public Domain Christmas Songs

It’s that time of year when Christmas lights are strung and ugly sweaters are worn. When singing along with your favorite carols have you ever thought of the copyright status behind these famous songs?

Here are nine well known Christmas songs that are in the public domain.

Away in a Manger

Once rumored to have been authored by theologian Martin Luther, this carol made an early appearance in 1882. Originally titled “Luther’s Cradle Song” an anonymous author attributed the song as one Luther wrote for his children. This was dispelled for a number of reasons, and a source states the song may have instead been associated with a celebration for the 400th anniversary of Luther’s birth in 1883. There are two musical settings commonly assigned with the lyrics, one by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895) and the other by James Ramsey Murray (1887). In 1996 it was ranked as the second most popular carol in Britain. The text of the song is based on verses from Luke 2:4-7. Source: Away in a Manger

Deck the Halls

Originally titled Deck the Hall, this is a Welsh melody that dates back to the 16th century. The famous chorus ‘fa la la la la’ may date to the medieval period, while the modern English lyrics were written by Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant in 1862. The melody comes from a traditional Welsh carol “Nos Galan”, a traditional New Year’s Eve ballad. The plural of ‘hall’ was first published in 1892. Source: Deck the Halls Song History

Jingle Bells

Perhaps one of the most well-known Christmas songs, Jingle Bells was originally written for the Thanksgiving season by James Lord Pierpont in 1857. It was copyrighted as One Horse Open Sleigh, but the name was revised when it was published in 1859 as “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh”. The title comes from the common practice of placing bells on a horse’s harness to avoid collisions because a horse drawn sleigh makes little noise. Jingle Bells was the first song broadcast from outer space when two astronauts on Gemini 6 performed the song aboard the spacecraft in 1965 after reporting a sleigh like object in the polar orbit. Source: 8 Things You May Not Know About “Jingle Bells”

Jingle Bells sheet music

Pierpont, J, and J Pierpont. The One Horse Open Sleigh. Oliver Ditson, Boston, monographic, 1857. Notated Music. https://www.loc.gov/item/sm1857.620520/

Silent Night

Translated from the German “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”, the song was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolmaster, with lyrics by Father Joseph Mohr, in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria in 1818. Bing Crosby’s version is the third bestselling single of all time, and the song was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. Silent Night, as we know it today was translated to English in 1859 by John Freeman Young, an Episcopal priest. Source: Silent Night

Up on the House Top

Written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864, Up on the House Top was considered the first Christmas song to focus primarily on Santa Claus. Sources credit Hanby’s inspiration for the song as Clement C. Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas”. The song was originally titled Santa Claus and meant to be performed as a sing along. According to The Christmas Carol Reader it is the second oldest secular Christmas song, only surpassed by Jingle Bells. Source: Up on the Housetop

Toyland

Written for the 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland, the whimsical song features a cast of Mother Goose characters in a magical toy filled land. The lyrics were written by Glenn MacDonough with music by Victor Herbert. The lyrics of the song have no direct ties to Christmas or the holiday season, but the spirit of the song, the happiness toys bring to children, has been associated with Santa Claus. The operetta has been adapted into 4 films of the same title, beginning in 1934 to the most recent animated version in 1997. Source: Babes in Toyland

The Twelve Days of Christmas

One of the most well-known cumulative songs, the carol describes an increasingly grand set of gifts for the twelve days of Christmas, beginning Christmas Day. The song was first published in 1780 without any music, and has a Roud Folk Song Index of 68. The standard tune it is now associated with was derived from a 1909 arrangement by Frederic Austin. In one 19th century variant, the gifts come from “my mother” rather than “my true love”.  PNC Financial annually calculates the total cost of all the gifts presented in the song, and the estimate for 2018 total comes to $39,0094.93. Source: The Twelve Days of Christmas Explained

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

The famous greeting which gives name to the song, “a merry Christmas and a happy New Year” is recorded from 18th century England. The song is a nod to the dynamic between the rich and poor, and describes townspeople parading the steps of the rich calling for figgy pudding and refusing to leave until it was delivered. The modern popularity of the song comes from a Bristol based composer Arthur Warrell, who arranged the song for the University of Bristol Madrigal singers in 1935. The very early history of the carol is unknown; it is notoriously missing from popular song books of the 18th and 19th centuries. Source: We Wish You a Merry Christmas

O Christmas Tree

Also known as O Tannenbaum, O Christmas Tree is a German Christmas song; a tannenbaum is the German word for a fir tree. The modern lyrics were written in 1824, and instead of referring to Christmas, reference the evergreen as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness. The custom of Christmas trees developed throughout the 19th century, and the song became associated with the holiday. The song was famously used in the 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas. Source: O Christmas Tree: Lyrics and Chords

 

Copyrighted Christmas Songs

Unfortunately the songs listed below are still under copyright protection so we’ll have to wait a little while before they enter the public domain.

Winter Wonderland
Written: 1934
Public Domain: 2030

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Written: 1939
Public Domain: 2035

Frosty the Snowman
Written: 1950
Public Domain: 2046

Jingle Bell Rock
Written: 1957
Public Domain: 2053

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Written: 1958
Public Domain: 2054

Little Saint Nick
Written: 1963
Public Domain: 2059

Holly Jolly Christmas
Written: 1964
Public Domain: 2060

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By Allison DeVito, Copyright Services Specialist at Copyright Services, The Ohio State University Libraries

 

 

 

Copyright Services Celebrates Open Access Week 2018

Please join Copyright Services as we celebrate Open Access Week, October 22-26, 2018!

Open Access Week Logo

Paywall: The Business of Scholarship (Film Screening)

Wednesday, October 24 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

As part of Open Access Week, join us for a screening of the documentary Paywall: The Business of Scholarship, a film that focuses on the need for open access to research and science, questions the rationale behind the $10-25 billion a year that flows to for-profit academic publishers, and examines the 35-40% profit margin associated with the top academic publisher Elsevier. After the hour long film, stay for a panel-facilitated audience discussion.

Light refreshments will be served. Sponsored by the University Libraries’ Research Commons and Scholarly Sharing Program Area and the Health Sciences Library.

Who: OSU faculty, staff, and students from all disciplines
When: Wednesday, October 24, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Where: Thompson Library, Room 165 

 

Open Teaching, Learning, and Research: Making Your Scholarship More Affordable and Accessible through Open Licensing (Presentation)

Friday, October 26 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

During Open Access Week, join the University Libraries’ Copyright Services to learn more about the benefits and special considerations in making your scholarship and teaching materials openly available. This presentation will provide an introduction to the rights provided to authors under copyright law and review important points of OSU’s IP policy. We will explore the different open license options provided by Creative Commons and discuss how those licenses can be utilized in your teaching and research.

Who: OSU faculty, staff, and students from all disciplines
When: Friday, October 26, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Research Commons, 3rd floor of 18th Avenue Library

Back to the Basics with Copyright Law

Today is the 9th anniversary of the Copyright Corner blog, with the first post (Why Copyright Education?) published back in August of 2009. Since then, we’ve had posts covering a wide-range of issues; from copyright protection for patterns and DMCA exemptions to copyright issues faced by units across OSU Libraries and tips on finding a copyright owner. For this post, we are going back to the basics and looking at some of the fundamentals of copyright law in the United States.

Why do we have copyright?

There are a number of theories on the purpose of copyright. Countries may have laws that encompass one or more of these theories.

One common theory for the purpose of copyright is utilitarian. Under this theory, we provide authors a copyright in the works they create as an incentive to create and disseminate new works. The law is organized to promote the collective welfare of society, but recognizes that unless creators can recoup the costs involved in the creation and dissemination of their works, they won’t produce the works. Copyright gives to authors and creators exclusive rights in the works they create, which in turn allows them to suppress competition for a limited time.

Much of U.S. copyright law seems to align with this theory, with Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution granting Congress the power “to Promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Rights to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

Another theory for the purpose of copyright is the author’s rights theory. Under this theory, the primary purpose of copyright is to recognize and protect the emotional bond between artists and their creations, acknowledging creative works as manifestations and extensions of their author’s personality. Countries whose laws are influenced by this theory may provide moral rights for authors and creators that exist separately from economic rights.

What exactly is copyright and how do you get it?

Copyright is a legal right that allows creators and authors the ability to control certain uses of their works. The owner of a copyright has a number of exclusive rights that are provided under the law (these rights are discussed below).

In the U.S., copyright protects original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression and copyright exists at the moment of fixation. In other words, copyright protection is automatic.

Including a copyright notice (e.g., © 2018 The Ohio State University) is optional for works created today but there can be some advantages to including a notice on your copyrighted work. And registration with the U.S. Copyright Office? That’s also an optional step that provides some important benefits to copyright holders.

Continue reading

Articles of Interest: January-June 2018

This post highlights articles published in the first half of 2018 with a focus on copyright, especially as it pertains to libraries, higher education, and scholarly communication. Links to the full-text articles are provided when available; [OSU full-text] links will connect authenticated users through The Ohio State University Libraries, while [OA full-text] links point to an open access version of the article that should be available to all users.

Did we miss an interesting article? Please share the citation in the comments!

Copyright

Benson, S. R.  (2018).  Sports  uniforms  and  copyright:  Implication for applied  art  educators  from  the  Star  Athletica  decision. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2(1), 1–7. doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i1.6575 [OA full text]

Carlstone, J., Stein, A., Norman, M., & Wilkin, J. (2018) Copyright renewal of U.S. books published in 1932: Re-analyzing Ringer’s study to determine a more accurate renewal rate for books. College & Research Libraries, [S.l.], v. 79, n. 5, p. 697. doi:10.5860/crl.79.5.697. [OA full text]

Harbeson, E. J. (2018). Bridge over Bridgeport: An incremental change in case law of sampling. ARSC Journal 49(1), 41–46. [OA full text]

Pike, G. H. (2018). Legal limits to linking challenge social media. Online Searcher42(3), 36-38. [OSU full text] / [OA full text]

Willi Hooper, M. (2018). Copyright for movie night: Film screenings on campus. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2(1), 1–17. doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i1.6576 [OA full text]

Legislation & Policy Developments

Hines, S., & Russell, C. (2018). Washington Hotline: Music copyright legislation proceeding. College & Research Libraries News79(4), 205. [OSU full text] / [OA full text]

Peet, L. (2018). Marrakesh Treaty Act introduced. Library Journal143(7), 10-11. [OSU full text] / [OA full text]

Libraries

Algenio, E. (2018). Making the transition as the new copyright librarian. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2(1), 1–24. doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i1.6579 [OA full text]

Ensign, D. (2018). Copyright Corner: Library reproduction and distribution of older copyrighted materials. Kentucky Libraries82(1), 2-3. [OSU full text]

Goben, A., & Doubleday, A.F. (2018).  Copyright in the health sciences literature: A narrative review. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2(2), 1-26 . doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i2.6654 [OA full text]

Lewin-Lane, S., Dethloff, N., Grob, J, Townes, A., & Lierman, A. (2018). The search for a service model of copyright best practices in academic libraries. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2(2), 1-25. doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i2.6713 [OA full text]

Thomas, C. (2018). In depth: Interactive copyright education for 3D objects. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, 2(1), 1–17. doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i1.6577 [OA full text]

Publishing & Scholarly Communication

Charlton, J. (2018). Elsevier negotiations still in limbo. Information Today35(2), 8. [OSU full text] / [OA full text]

Greco, A. N. (2018). The scholarly publishing community should support changes to US copyright law. Journal of Scholarly Publishing49(2), 248-259. doi:10.3138/jsp.49.2.248 [OSU full text]

Lipinski, T. A., & Kritikos, K. C. (2018). How open access policies affect access to grey literature in university digital repositories: A case study of iSchools. Grey Journal (TGJ)14(1), 6-20. [OSU full text]

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By Maria Scheid, Copyright Services Coordinator at Copyright Services, The Ohio State University Libraries.

Articles of Interest: July-December 2017

This post highlights articles published in the second half of 2017 with a focus on copyright, especially as it pertains to libraries, higher education, and scholarly communication. Links to the full-text articles are provided when available; [OSU full-text] links will connect authenticated users through The Ohio State University Libraries, while [OA full-text] links point to an open access version of the article that should be available to all users.

Did we miss an interesting article? Please share the citation in the comments!

Copyright

Bailey, J. (2017). How Copyright Law Works for YouTube. Copyright & New Media Law21(4), 5-7. [OSU full-text]

Christou, C. (2017). Copyright in 2018. Information Today34(10), Cover-29. [OSU full-text] / [OA full-text]

McCord, G. (2017). A Few Secrets About Fair Use. Copyright & New Media Law21(4), 8-10. [OSU full-text]

Myers, C., Taylor, T., & Wesolek, A. (2017). An Interview with Peter Jaszi, Professor of Law, Faculty Director of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship. 2(1), 1‒8. doi.org/10.17161/jcel.v1i2.6970. [OA full-text]

Perez, J. E. (2017). Images and the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement. Reference Librarian58(4), 229-237. doi:10.1080/02763877.2017.1346495. [OA full-text]

Pike, G. H. (2017). NAFTA and its IP provisions at risk. Information Today, 34(10), 18. [OSU full-text]

Russell, C. (2017). The latest on H.R. 1695/S. 1010. College & Research Libraries News, 78(7), 398. [OSU full-text] / [OA full-text]

Libraries

Butler, B., & Russell, C. (2017). Section 108 revision: Nothing new under the sun. Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship. 2(1), 1‒37. doi.org/10.17161/jcel.v1i2.6972. [OA full-text]

Oltmann, S. s. (2017). Intellectual freedom in academic libraries: Surveying deans about its significance. College & Research Libraries, 78(6), 741-760. [OSU full-text] / [OA full-text]

Vargas, M.A., & Bright, J. (2017). Rev your engines: Racing ahead with mass digitization. Computers In Libraries37(7), 4-8. [OSU full-text]

Publishing & Scholarly Communication

Narayan, B., & Luca, E. (2017). Issues and challenges in researchers’ adoption of open access and institutional repositories: a contextual study of a university repository. Information Research22(4), 1-14. [OSU full-text] / [OA full-text]

Sterman, L. (2017). The enemy of the good: How specifics in publisher’s green OA policies are bogging down IR deposits of scholarly literature. College & Research Libraries News78(7), 372-401. [OSU full-text] / [OA full-text]

Yeates, S. (2017). After Beall’s ‘List of predatory publishers’: Problems with the list and paths forward. Information Research, 22(4), 1-6. [OSU full-text] / [OA full-text]

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By Maria Scheid, Copyright Services Specialist at Copyright Services, The Ohio State University Libraries

Public Domain Day 2018

It is the beginning of another year, which means the welcoming of new works into the public domain for Public Domain Day 2018. Today, countries around the world will expand their public domain with creative works whose term of copyright protection ended in 2017. As public domain works, these books, films, compositions, and works of art can be copied, shared, and remixed without copyright restrictions.

We have written before about the extension of the term of copyright protection under U.S. law and its impact on our public domain (we’ve also written about the ability of copyright owners to bypass this lengthy wait and dedicate their works to the public domain via Creative Commons CC0). As a result of this extension of copyright and Congress’s decision to apply the extension of copyright protection retroactively to existing works, those of us in the United States will need to wait until January 1, 2019 before we see new published works enter the public domain.

For now, the U.S. public domain will add a much smaller group of works—unpublished works whose author died in 1947 and were not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to 1978.

For an interesting read on some of the published works that are entering the public domain in countries around the world, head over to The Public Domain Review for their picks for the Class of 2018.

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By Maria Scheid, Copyright Services Specialist at Copyright Services, The Ohio State University Libraries

Open Access Week Events

Please join Copyright Services at these upcoming Open Access Week events:

Open Access Week: Copyright Trivia 
October 23 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Do you have what it takes to be crowned Copyright Champion? Join the University Libraries’ Copyright Services for a short introduction to copyright workshop, where you will learn the many important ways copyright law interacts with your daily academic life. Then test your copyright knowledge and compete for glory and prizes in the Copyright Trivia Championships! This event is in celebration of International Open Access Week.

Who: OSU faculty, staff, and students from all disciplines
When: Monday, October 23, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Where: Research Commons, 3rd floor of 18th Avenue Library

Register here: https://library.osu.edu/researchcommons/event/copyright-trivia/ 

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Open Access Week: Considerations and Benefits of Open Access Scholarship 
October 26 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Join the University Libraries and the Health Sciences Library for a workshop focused on the theme of this year’s International Open Access Week: “Open in Order to _______________________.”

Open in order to: raise the visibility of your research; increase the impact of your scholarship; and increase access to knowledge.

This workshop will cover the basics of copyright and Open Access, including understanding your rights as an author, sharing your research to a broader audience, publishing in Open Access journals, and funding models and support. Participants will also be invited to explore topics of interest in small facilitated group discussions.

Who: OSU faculty, staff, and students from all disciplines
When: Thursday, October 26, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Where: Research Commons, 3rd floor of 18th Avenue Library

Register here: https://library.osu.edu/researchcommons/event/open-scholarship/

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OSU Open Access Monograph Initiative
October 27 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

The Ohio State University Libraries (OSUL) is launching a new initiative to fund Open Access scholarly monographs in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. OSUL has committed to funding three $15,000 awards a year for five years. Awards will be provided as subventions to participating university presses. To learn more about this initiative and how to submit a proposal, please attend this information session.

Who: OSU faculty
When: Friday, October 27, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Where: Research Commons, 3rd floor of 18th Avenue Library

Register here: https://library.osu.edu/researchcommons/event/monograph-initiative/

 

 

Copyright in CarmenCanvas Guide: New resource demonstrates best practices for sharing copyrighted content in Carmen courses

Does your course include movies, text, pictures, or audio that you did not create? Are you planning to share materials you created with your students? To help instructors in the creation of their Carmen courses, we’ve put together the Copyright in CarmenCanvas Guide.  It will help readers understand copyright law, specifically in the context of creating Carmen courses.  While it is not legal advice, it is both a wealth of information and a multi-media demonstration of copyright best practices for sharing content through Carmen.

Readers can begin with the syllabus, gaining a topical overview of the information in each module of the Guide.  The modules in the Guide are in order from most open (materials that may be used in a course without copyright limitation), to most restrictive (materials and uses that will require permission from the copyright owner).  Each module begins with an introduction page describing the topics to be discussed in the module.  After the introduction, each page within a module contains an explanation and one or more demonstrations of best practices relevant to the topic at issue.   A listing of helpful resources is also included within each page, for those seeking more information on the topic. The introduction page of the Guide provides additional resources for those who wish to improve their general understanding of copyright and related issues.

Modules do not need to be completed in any particular order.  However, we do encourage readers to explore all the modules to become familiar with the many options available to course creators as they pull content into their courses.

Whether a reader visits one page, or reviews the entire Copyright in CarmenCanvas Guide, it is a great resource for anyone creating courses at The Ohio State University.

Contact our office with additional questions.

Website: go.osu.edu/copyright

Email:  LIBCopyright@osu.edu

Twitter:  @OSUCopyright

Phone:  614-688-5849

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By Maria Scheid, Rights Management Specialist at  Copyright Services, The Ohio State University Libraries

Why Should I Care About Copyright?

For folks working in scholarly communications, there are any number of challenges that must be faced on an almost daily basis.  For example, it is a given that everyone in this field has spent at least a few hours refining their two sentence or less stock description of fair use for non-lawyers.  Yet there is one issue that underlies and affects almost every other issue handled by scholarly communications staff:  getting people to care about copyright. Continue reading

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