Why a copyright column?

Abstract

Copyright is integral to everything we do in digital publishing. This new column will examine a wide range of intellectual property issues using concrete examples from current projects. Since Internet-based publishing is automatically international, the column will look at the British, European and other aspects, as well as US law. This first column deals with the question of whether a set of 1960s era Black Panther Party pamphlets are in the public domain under US copyright law. It also mentions the moral rights issues that would arise in a German context. The final section of the column reviews some of the information sources useful in answering questions of this sort.