One further comment. The crown as an institution is considered never to
die. Accordingly Crown Copyright does not expire. At least I presume that
is still the case.
Peter King
----- Original Message -----
From: Frank Sharman <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 28 April 2001 17:06
Subject: Re: copyright on PRO documents
> The copyright in a written document is copyright in a literary work.
> This applies to letters, diaries, minute books, whatever.
>
> Copyright in a literary work lasts for the lifetime of the author plus
> 70 years from the end of the year in which he or she died.
>
> If you know the date of the creator's death, you can work it out easily.
>
> If you do not, it is safe to assume that no one lives for more than 100
> years after they have created a literary work.
>
> So if the work pre-dates 1830 I would tend to assume that copyright has
> expired.
>
> The date of publication is irrelevant.
>
> Copyright law has been revamped recently to harmonise European law and
> to give copyright owners greater opportunities to make money.
>
> You can find a clear enough exposition of this on a government site:
> www.intellectual-property.gov.uk
>
> But note that if anyone owns a document of any age they might refuse to
> let you look at it and copy it unless you pay them a fee. This is not
> copyright. It is just money grabbing based on physical possession and
> contract law.
>
> This is not legal advice for which you can sue me if it goes wrong. If
> there seems to be a real problem, please get proper legal advice
> elsewhere!
> --
> Frank Sharman
> Wolverhampton, UK.
> tel: +44 01902 763246
>
> look: no quotes, no graphics!
>
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