In investigating the copyright status of works first published before January 1, 1978, the most important thing to look for is the notice of copyright.  As a general rule under the previous law, copyright protection was lost permanently if the notice was omitted from the first authorized published edition of a work or if it appeared in the wrong form or position.  The form and position of the copyright notice for various types of works were specified in the copyright statute.  Some courts were liberal in overlooking relatively minor departures from the statutory requirements, but a basic failure to comply with the notice provisions forfeited copyright protection and put the work into the public domain in this country.

ABSENCE OF COPYRIGHT NOTICE

For works first published before 1978, the complete absence of a copyright notice from a published copy generally indicates that the work is not protected by copyright.  For works first published before March 1, 1989, the copyright notice is mandatory, but omission could have been cured by registration before or within 5 years of publication and by adding the notice to copies published in the United States after discovery of the omission.  Some works may contain a notice, others may not.  The absence of a notice in works published on or after March 1, 1989, does not necessarily indicate that the work is in the public domain.

UNPUBLISHED WORKS.  No notice of copyright was required on the copies of any unpublished work.  The concept of “publication” is very technical, and it was possible for a number of copies lacking a copyright notice to be reproduced and distributed without affecting copyright protection.

FOREIGN EDITIONS.  In the case of works seeking ad interim copyright [2], copies of a copyrighted work were exempted from the notice requirements if they were first published outside the United States.  Some copies of these foreign editions could find their way into the United States without impairing the copyright.

ACCIDENTAL OMISSION.  The 1909 statute preserved copyright protection if the notice was omitted by accident or mistake from a “particular copy or copies.”  Unauthorized Publication.  A valid copyright was not secured if someone deleted the notice and/or published the work without authorization from the copyright owner.

SOUND RECORDINGS.  Reproductions of sound recordings usually contain two different types of creative works:  the underlying musical, dramatic, or literary work that is being performed or read and the fixation of the actual sounds embodying the performance or reading.  For protection of the underlying musical or literary work embodied in a recording, it is not necessary that a copyright notice covering this material appear on the phonograph records or tapes on which the recording is reproduced.  As noted above, a special notice is required for protection of the recording of a series