Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York
Copyright law
I�m a first time novelist who would like to use poems by two different poets in my book.
In usage I have definitely credited ownership to the respective authors of the poems. One is a renowned African American poet who died in 1906. The poem I�m interested in using by this writer was first published around 1896.
The second poet is an Indian (from India) poet and dramatist. His was a renowned Classical Sanskrit (akin to Latin and Greek in Europe) writer. He lived sometime during the reign of Agnimitra, the second Shunga king (c. 170 BC) or the Gupta period (4th, 5th, or 6th century). His plays and poems are known, but there isn�t an abundant amount of information on the author.
I became aware of both these authors work online without appropriate copyright information. The African American poet�s work has been published throughout the years, but I have not had ant success in locating these publishers.
I have been informed by the U.S. Copyright Office that there are no exclusive rights to literary works published before 1923. The African American poet definitely falls under this category. I�m unsure of India�s publishing laws.
Can I use these poems with full credit to their authors without penalization?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Copyright law
Yes. You don't have to provide credit either but in my personal, literary opinion you should.
Re: Copyright law
You have been quite oomplete as to US law, and I don't know India law. I have an indian attorney working at my firm and she could answer the question (she practices in the US and India) and I'm sure she'd talk to you at no charge if you called. Her name is Kalpana Nagumpalli.
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