Preamble

Project Gutenberg's "Rule 6" from the Copyright How-To provides a mechanism for demonstating that items no longer have copyright protection, due to non-renewal of copyright. Rule 6 may only be used for items first published in the US between 95 years ago and December 31, 1964.

Based on review of the US Library of Congress' historical renewal records, Project Gutenberg has estimated that over 85% of all registered books and monographs are never renewed. The procedures described here are intended to identify whether a particular item is among those that were not renewed.

These procedures are to enact a good faith effort by Project Gutenberg to establish safe harbor categories of works which clearly are not protected by copyright due to non-renewal, and whose non-renewal status may be determined unambiguously. These determinations enable PG to move forward and use its resoures wisely in its efforts to build its library collection.

Scope

Rule 6 may be applied to published books, monographs, serials, or portions of these items. It may not be applied to unpublished items, such as manuscripts and letters. It may not be applied to other types of items, such as audio recordings or speeches. It may only be applied when first publication was in the US, by authors residing in the US.

If the work being researched is a play, screenplay or other work intended for oral presentation, search must include the Drama section of the renewals for the usual years. Photoplays (usually scripts that have pictures from a production or film bound in with them) must be researched in the Film section as well. Those sections of renewals are not yet digitized.

Summary

Rule 6 copyright clearances are challenging to complete. Project Gutenberg insists that that Rule 6 copyright clearance requests are submitted by persons who have demonstrated their ability to do accurate and complete copyright research. Rule 6 clearance research must include three components:

1. Biographical research, to provide details of the nationality of the author, any pseudonames, date of death (if applicable), and other information about the author(s).
2. Bibliographical reseach, to provide details of when and where the item was first published, whether it was serialized, whether it was republished under alternate titles or as part of another collection, and other details on the publication history of the item.
3. Renewal research, to show that there are no copyright renewals that apply to the item.

Phase 1: Biographical Research

Was the item first published in the United States? If not, Rule 6 cannot be applied.

Was the author (all authors) U.S. residents or citizens at the time of publication? If not, Rule 6 cannot be applied. A resident, for our purposes, is someone who lives in the U.S. -- not a visitor.

What aliases, variations or pseudonyms did this author use, if any? Include maiden or married names, if they are different. These need to be searched as part of the renewal research.

If the author was deceased during the renewal period, what heirs or other parties might have had the right to renew?

Phase 2: Bibliographical Research

Was the item published under alternate titles, or republished? If so, provide the alternate titles and republication details. Renewal research needs to minimally span from 4 years before and after publication, as well as all possible renewal dates, of the item under investigation. If alternate titles are found, then renewal research needs to be done for all alternate titles or alternate publications or dates.

Was the item part of a serial (i.e., in a magazine)? If so, provide the name of the serial, and research whether the serial was renamed, discontinued, or otherwise changed. This is because a copyright or renewal on the serial might have renewed the item.

Was the item published in multiple pieces (i.e., published serially, in parts)? If so, this extends the time span of possibly valid renewals.

Was the item later republished as part of a collection, such as in a book of collected stories? If it was republished within 4 years, then the collection renewal might apply to the original.

Note that there are many resources for this bibliographical research, and none are complete. Different genres and time periods are covered by different resources (print and online). Submitters must have the needed expertise to know what resources are available and suitable for the necessary research.

Phase 3: Renewal Research

If the Catalog of Copyright Entries is available for the initial publication, an effort should be made to find the initial registration as it may provide valuable additional information in determining whether the item has been renewed.

Search for renewal records. Provide details on which resources (print or online) were used. Search for all variations on title, author, compilation, etc. Provide details on search terms used and other variations.

Situations that Prevent a Determination of Not Having Copyright Protection under Rule 6

Renewals that would be due on the 28th year after first publication could actually occur or be registered earlier or later. For this reason, we consider an otherwise valid renewal to be applicable if it is found in the 27th, 28th, 29th or 30th year after first publication. Thus, renewals need to be searched plus or minus two years of the 28th year after first publication.

If a variation is found to be renewed for the 28th year after publication (plus or minus 2 years), then Project Gutenberg will not assert that the item no longer has copyright protection. Variations include very similar items (such as reprints).

For serial items, renewals for the entire work (with all serial parts combined) will be deemed to apply to each serial part. However, this only applies when the item and/or the renewal are within the four year period (27th, 28th, 29th and 30th year after first publication).

Examples:

• An item was published in serial parts from 1930-1931, then published as an entire work within two years after any serial part. In that case, any valid renewal of a serial part or of the entire work will be deemed to apply to all serial parts and the entire work.
• An item was published in serial parts from 1930-1931, then published as an entire work more than two years after any serial part (i.e., after 1931+2, or from 1934 onwards). In that case, any renewals for the entire work will not apply to any serial part, even when the serial parts are combined by Project Gutenberg or others.

Renewal by someone other than the author may occur for a variety of reasons. Project Gutenberg does not have the resources to investigate whether a renewal might be invalid due to who renews. Thus, any renewal within the allowed time period is treated by Project Gutenberg as valid.

Timespan for Renewal Records

Too late for a valid renewal: Items became eligible for renewal 28 years after the original publication. Because of the flexibility in renewal dates allowed by the US Copyright Office, and because publication of renewals might not happen in a timely fashion, Project Gutenberg seeks to identify renewals from plus or minus 2 years from the 28th year after the publication date.

Too late for serial parts: If a complete work was reprinted, and the reprint was renewed more than 30 years after the original (28+2), then the renewal does not apply to the original.

What to Submit

Documentation of your research must accompany a Rule 6 clearance request, as submitted at copy.pglaf.org. Include your responses as an additional .txt or .htm file with the clearance data.

Basic information:

• The original title, original publication date, and author(s) name. Include a scan of the title page, verso page, and other pages as appropriate from the original publication
• Original copyright registration record identifier, if known

• Any known variations on the author's name, including pseudonyms.
  What sources did you use?
• Was the author (all authors) a U.S. citizen and resident at the time of publication?
  What sources did you use?
• Author(s) birth date, and death date if deceased.
  What sources did you use?
• If the author is deceased, information about heirs or others to whom renewal rights might have been assigned.
  What sources did you use?

• Provide any alternate titles or subtitles.
• Was this a serialized item (that is, was it published in parts, such as in a magazine)? If so, provide details on when the other serial parts appeared.
• Was the item republished (reprinted, rereleased, etc.)? If so, provide bibliographic citations and other details on known republications.
• If the item was republished, how closely do the republications match the original? Look at the first page of each chapter or section, noting all differences. Look for passages that are present in one version, but absent in another. Report these differences.
• If the item was republished, provide any alternate titles or subtitles.

• Search for renewal records for all variations of the title, subtitle, and author(s), including for any known republications (even if they were published more than 4 years after the originals). See below for some of the eligible renewal resources. Report all records found, and the source you obtained them from.
• If part of a serial, include a search for renewal records for the serial issues from four years before and after publication of any serial part of the work.
• If part of a compilation or other collected work, include a search for renewal records for the collection. Search under the collection editor name(s), as well as the collection title and any variations.
• If any renewals have limitations (notably, limitations that the copyright applies to the compilation or serial or editorial matter, not the work or works they include), provide details.
• For all renewal research, list the specific resources utilized.

Alternate methodology

A letter from the publisher, written statements from the author or heirs, or court cases are examples of evidence for copyright protection status that, if available, may supersede the other research. Such evidence might confirm or deny copyright protection status.

If these types of data are available, please discuss with the Project Gutenberg copyright clearance team to determine how to proceed.

Renewal resources

Consult the Copyright Renewal Registers to look for a renewal record. There are several sources, so you often need to look in more than one place. These Registers are published annually, and are partially online via the US Copyright Office. Project Gutenberg has digitized a number of volumes, and there are searchable databases at Stanford and Rutgers.

Project Gutenberg has published eBooks of all of the Book entries from the Copyright Renewal Register as eBooks # 11800 (all volumes combined) through 11856. These are not exhaustive for all entry types, since periodicals were only sometimes included in the source publications.

A more complete set of data is here: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce, including page scans of the same materials as the Project Gutenberg eBooks #11800 - 11856 (good for checking for possible typos in the eBooks), as well as the Periodicals sections not included in the PG eBooks. This site also includes drama and artwork renewals 1950-1952, and all other nonmusical renewals for 1950.

For renewal records 1978 through 1992, you must also search at the US Library of Congress Web site: www.copyright.gov/records

To summarize, PG #11800 has (non-drama) book renewals for 1950-1977, periodicals renewals for 1950 only, and contributions to periodicals renewals for mid-1953 through 1977. (It also has all other nonmusical renewals for 1950.) Thus, #11800 cannot be the only source used for anything published in a periodical prior to 1955, nor for anything published after 1947 (items that needed to be renewed by 1975). Additionally, it can only be used for books and (some) periodicals, not for other types of works (drama, artwork, music...).

Most recent update: August 21, 2016.