The following link is to a chart created by Peter Hirtle of Cornell University and is available on Cornell's Institute for Digital Collections. This provides a very good overview of when published and unpublished works pass into the public domain. http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm If you want to publish a work that was created by someone else, it is your responsibility to determine whether the intellectual content is protected by copyright. In addition, you may need to request permission from the person or organization that was responsible for creating the physical format of the work (e.g. microfilm, book, newspaper etc.). Often this will be the publisher. In the case of microfilmed copies of newspapers, this is usually a library, historical society, or commercial publisher. This information will be available on the frames preceding the reformatted text. Should you have further questions, please feel free to contact me. ______________________________________ Melissa McAfee Research Library Director New York State Historical Association The Farmers' Museum PO Box 800 Lake Road Cooperstown, NY 13326 607 547 1473 (tel) 607 547 1405 (fax)