Whew, copyright laws give me a headache. Been trying to find information on my own, but of course, have had no luck. So I'm hoping someone can help me out on here. :)

I know the general rule is, if it's been published before 1923 then it is in public domain (please do correct me if I'm wrong). Now does this also include foreign books? And is there any website where I could look up a book to see if it is in public domain? (Or how am I supposed to tell if it is or isn't in the public domain) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

But the easiest way to get rid of that copyright headache is to write something 100% original.

- Bill

Thanks mate. And true true... but I'm writing a sort of memoir/biographical historical type movie. I do have permission from actual people to use their stories... but I'm just trying to get permission for a book, if possible. If not possible, then it's all good. Thanks again.

I'm actually pretty sure that a lot of things that were released before 1973 are in the public domain now except obvious stuff that had it's copyright renewed by the big companies that own them, like Elvis music or The Doors etc...

I'm actually pretty sure that a lot of things that were released before 1973 are in the public domain now

I'm pretty sure you're wrong. :)

Sure, there may be some material (that happens to be public domain) out there, but 1973 ain't some magic cutoff point.

I wasn't completely sure if it was correct. I was reading a book at barnes and noble but I didn't buy it so I can't tell you exactly what the reason was for the cut off. Maybe I'll go back and take another look.

Here's a few links that might help you:

How to Determine Copyright Status (http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/publicdomain/SearchC-R.html)
Expiration of Works into the Public Domain (http://www.llrx.com/features/digitization2.htm)
And lastly, probably the most useful link for anyone interested in copyright status of books and such: US Copyright Office online search tool (http://www.copyright.gov/search/)

I am pretty sure it's case by case. I am currently filming an adaptation of an H P Lovecraft short story. It was published in 1919. It's public domain because it was published in an amateur publication and his family never renewed the copyright. However some of his stories published in Weird Tales ARE copyrighted because Weird Tales renewed the copyright.