File:PrebyUH1944.jpg
Crop of page 104 of the 1944 Pitt student yearbook, the Owl. This work was originally published prior to 1978 without a copyright notice placing it in the public domain.
In addition, works copyrighted before 1964 had to have the copyright renewed sometime in the 28th year. If the copyright was not renewed the work is in the public domain. It is best to search 6 months before and after the required year. Some periodicals are published the month before the cover date and some registrations may be delayed for a few months.
If copyrighted, this 1944 issue of The Owl student yearbook would have to be renewed in 1971. Online page scans of the Catalog of Copyright Entries, published by the US Copyright Office can be found at [1]. Online page scans of the Catalog of Copyright Entries, published by the US Copyright Office can be found here. [2] Renewals for copyrights from 1951 onward (and some, but not all, renewals for 1950 copyrights), as well as original registrations from 1978 onward are available online from the Copyright Office's Copyright Records web site.
The search of the Renewals for Books and Periodicals for 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1974 show no renewal entries for The Owl by the editor Viola Boydjieff, the business manager Roger H. Wood, the Owl itself, or the University of Pittsburgh. Both the scanned pages and online database were checked in case a delayed renewal was made in 1973 or 1974.
The Owl was never copyrighted or the copyright of the yearbook was not renewed and therefore it is in the public domain according to either criteria.
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This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart and the copyright renewal logs.
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This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart as well as a detailed definition of "publication" for public art.
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