REQ: Help determining original US dates of acquisition for the Soncino Talmud

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Aharon Varady

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Dec 4, 2014, 1:33:18 PM12/4/14
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We're trying to nail down a particularly difficult copyright research question that hangs on the earliest date a work was accessible in the United States after publication abroad. Perhaps you or someone you know, can help.

The work in question is the Soncino Talmud -- thirty-two volumes that were published in four increments over a span of 15 years (1935-1950). Questions concerning it's Public Domain status have circulated for quite some time, but without adequate copyright research, haven't been able to be determined with confidence.

US copyright law considers works published abroad to be subject to US copyright requirements if they are available in the US within a month of their publication abroad. If we can determine that the Soncino Talmud was available in the US within a month of its publication in the UK, then it is likely to be in the Public Domain due to its lack of conformance with the US copyright requirements at the time of its publication.

Are you a staff member of a Jewish library or know one who is? Might you have in your personal collection a copy of a first edition Soncino with a purchase receipt?

Are you a researcher who has seen a Jewish newspaper advertisement announcing the availability of the Soncino Talmud?

Let us know and feel free to share this message with other interested parties and discussion groups.

Thank you.

Aharon


Soncino Talmud Publication Dates:

Fourth week of March, 1935 ("eight volumes") see Chicago Sentinel, 04.04.1935, page 20. The volumes in Nezikim correspond to this publication date.

Third week of January, 1937 ("eight volumes") see The Palestine Post, 24.01.1937, page 9. The volumes in Nashim correspond to this publication date.

First week of February, 1938 ("eight volumes") see The Palestine Post, 02.10.1938, page 3. The volumes in Moed correspond to this publication date.

Third week of February, 1950 ("final six volumes") see The Palestine Post, 24.02.1950, page 8. The volumes in Zeraim, Kodashim, and Toharoth correspond to this publication date.




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Aharon Varady
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Aharon Varady

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Oct 15, 2019, 8:57:10 PM10/15/19
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I just want to provide an update to this question I posed five years ago.

Was any volume of the Soncino Talmud "published" (i.e. publicly accessible) in the United States within 30 days of its publication in the UK? Answer "yes" and we would know with certainty that that volume was in the Public Domain in the United States.

However, that is not the only question that would determine whether a published volume has entered the Public Domain.

I was looking today at the 1960 edition of Soncino's Babylonian Talmud. It was published in New York with a copyright notice indicating Soncino as the copyright owner. As all other works published between January 1, 1924 and January 1, 1964, this edition of the Soncino Talmud would need to have had its copyright renewed within 28 years of its publication. It never did. As with so many works published during this period, the work entered the Public Domain, due to a lapse in its copyright renewal. 

Aharon Varady

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Oct 30, 2019, 5:25:26 PM10/30/19
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There is one last (?) avenue concerning the Public Domain status of a work purportedly under copyright that I have not mentioned yet. Namely,  whether the work was officially registered with the U.S. Copyright Office -- a requirement for all copyrighted work before the United States signed onto the Berne Convention in 1989.

The good news is that the New York Public Library (NYPL) now has the copyright registration records digitally available and text searchable (albeit in raw data files, one for each year). 
https://github.com/NYPL/catalog_of_copyright_entries_project

The workflow for copyright research of works with a proper copyright notice (published in the United States) is, as far as I understand presently:

1) For works published between January 1, 1924 and January 1, 1964 -- 
    a. assume they were registered, and 
    b. determine copyright renewal status via the Stanford Copyright Renewal database: https://exhibits.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals

2) For works published between January 1, 1964 and March 1, 1989 --
    a. determine the year given in the copyright notice for the specific edition in question
    b. determine whether the work was in fact registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

3) For works published between March 1, 1989 and March 1, 1994 --
    a. determine whether the work was in fact registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.


Clearly, this affects many of the works that have to date been set aside due to reasonable concerns. The important take away for those working to make these works more broadly accessible in new digital editions available for adaptive re-use is: the status of any given copyright is only attainable through objective research.


Aharon



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Aharon Varady

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Oct 30, 2019, 5:58:19 PM10/30/19
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Note one error in the preceding email. Number 3 should read "For works published between March 1, 1989 and March 1, 1984" (not 1994) "if no notice of copyright is displayed."


Brak

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Oct 30, 2019, 6:14:34 PM10/30/19
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Dude!!! That is an awesome resource! Beats having to make a trip to DC!
Thanks!


Aharon Varady wrote:

Aharon Varady

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Oct 30, 2019, 8:06:11 PM10/30/19
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Rabbi R. Karpov, Ph.D.

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Oct 30, 2019, 10:30:56 PM10/30/19
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Reb Aharon,

Thank you very much for all of this -- truly.

It makes our world much different -- much better -- and we notice.

Rabbi R. Karpov, Ph.D.
Jewish Center of Indian Country -- 1991 to Present

Appearances include:


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