Project:The copyright status of Wittgenstein’s works: Difference between revisions

Their country of origin is the United Kingdom. These works are in the public domain there because copyright on posthumously published literary works that were created before 1989 and first published less than 20 years after the author’s death expires 70 years after the author’s death, and the author died before 1952.<ref>In the UK, as a general rule, copyright expires 70 years P.M.A. However, posthumously published works are subject to complex provisions. For authors, like Wittgenstein, who died before 1969, three scenarios may be applicable: (a) if the work was published before 1 August 1989 and the author died less than 20 years before the date of publication, then copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death; (b) if the work was published before 1 August 1989 and the author died more than 20 years before the date of publication, then copyright expires 50 years after the date of publication; (c) if the work was unpublished as of 1 August 1989, its copyright will expire on 31 December 1989. See Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Schedule 1 – Copyright: Transitional Provisions And Savings, section 12. For a more readable document, see ''{{plainlink|[https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/non-crown-copyright-flowchart.pdf Duration of Copyright (excluding Crown copyright)]}}'', The National Archives, retrieved 8 August 2022 ({{plainlink|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220421222606/https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/non-crown-copyright-flowchart.pdf archived URL]}}). These clauses do not affect Wittgenstein’s posthumous texts that are available on the Ludwig Wittgenstein Project’s website, because all those that have the UK as their country of origin were published within 20 years of Wittgenstein’s death. However, among Wittgenstein’s writings that were first published more than 20 years after the author’s death, those that fall under the scope of scenario (b) may still be copyrighted in the UK, and those that fall under the scope of scenario (c) certainly are.</ref> It is also in the public domain in Italy, because the copyright term for literary works there is 70 years P.M.A. and the author died before 1952.