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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-09 > 0936192846


From: John Steele Gordon <>
Subject: Re: Pirated Plantagenet Ancestry
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 09:34:06 -0400


"James P. Robinson III" wrote:
>
> If they have been sitting on it long enough, the copyright protection is
> gone and the work is public domain.

No. Only if a work is "published" (as defined in copyright law) does the
clock start ticking. As long as it exists only in manuscript, the
common-law copyright holds.

JSG

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