Q:  My library archives all the yearbooks from our school, which was founded in 1920. I get frequent questions about digitizing the yearbooks and putting them on our library homepage so our alumni can see the books. Can I digitize all our yearbooks?

A:  This is a multipart answer that will vary depending on when each individual yearbook was published. While the copyright of the books themselves will likely be owned by the school (though not always), the informal photos and artwork in the books may be registered by the individual photographers and artists. There might need to be investigation of those images. “May not be digitized” should be read to include “without permission of the copyright owner.”

For the yearbooks published before 1923, the works are now in the public domain. Those can all be digitized.

• For works published between 1923 and 1977, if the works were published without a copyright notice, the works are in the public domain and may be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from 1978 to March 1, 1989, if there is no copyright notice and the work was not registered within 5 years of publication, the works are in the public domain and may be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from 1978 to March 1, 1989, if there is no copyright notice and the work WAS registered within 5 years of publication, the work is protected for 95 years from date of publication and may not yet be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from 1923 to 1963 with notice and the copyright was renewed, the work is protected for 95 years from the date of publication and may not yet be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from 1923 to 1963 and the copyright was NOT renewed, the work is in the public domain and may be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from 1964 to 1977 with copyright notice, the work is protected for 95 years from date of publication and may not be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from 1978 to March 1, 1989 and published with notice, the work is protected for 95 years from the date of publication and may not be digitized.


• For yearbooks published from March 1, 1989 through 2002, the work is protected for 95 years from the date of publication and may not be digitized.


• For yearbooks published after 2002, the work is protected for 95 years from date of creation and may not be digitized.

A few weird instances do not fit in this list, so for a more complete list visit: http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm.

THE LAST QUESTION

This month’s column is brief. At my instigation, this will be my last installment of Copyright Questions of the Month. I’ve written close to twenty years of these columns, answering questions asked by school media specialists, technology specialists, and school administrators; I’ve answered questions in my various books. But the hardest question I have had to answer is “Why are you giving up this column?” Some of my friends know that my health has not been good of late. I still practice law—my profession by accident—in Texas, but my practice is restricted by the disabilities of my health.

In all the time I’ve written the column, I’ve tried to fairly represent both the copyright owner’s and the copyright user’s analysis. It’s a fine line; I’ve become a target from both sides, though I still love what I do. Copyright isn’t the profession’s passionate issue it once was, even though it is as murky a topic. We may get a new revision in copyright law soon – it’s been forty-one years since the last revision in 1976 – so with a new law should come a new advisor. I hope you will vet your new copyright advisor with the same healthy skepticism that you once used on me, and with the standards you apply to other information sources.

But as I leave this column and monthly publishing for the first time in almost twenty years, please remember that I am still, and always will be, one of you. My roots are in librarianship, and on my office door to this day is a sign that says “Beware of attack librarian.” I hope you will continue to send me questions for future, but not regular, writing projects. I wish you all as much adventure and satisfaction as I have enjoyed in my career.

This column is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding application of copyright law in schools. Nothing in this column is intended to constitute legal advice, and nothing herein should be considered legal advice. If legal advice is required, the reader should consult a licensed attorney in his or her own state. Neither ABC-CLIO, LLC, nor the author makes any warranties or representations concerning the information contained in this column or the use to which it is put.