The fate of orphaned works

[swmartin]

I just spent over an hour trying to figure out who holds the copyright on a campaign poster in our Campaign Literature Archive. The answer boils down to "nobody". The political committee that produced it was dissolved decades ago and did not explicitly pass the copyright on to another organization. (I highly doubt that as they wrapped up their

Comments

[jimkeller]

I guess the good news about a copyright that isn't owned by anyone is that there's no one who has the right to sue...

[swmartin]

A lot of publishers still won't accept that and will reject the article or book. Ditto for the libraries and museums who charge for publication rights associated with their rare collections -- they won't authorize that permission without copyright clearance. Even though there is absolutely zero chance of being sued, it's still technically illegal and most institutions don't want to risk even the appearance of liability.