Book Copyrights

[boomboom]

State of Massive Confusion! (California)
I want to reproduce parts of a book originally published in 1898. I have checked the Library of Congress and there are no records on this book. Is there a Statute of Limitations for books of this age? If the original author is dead, and the publisher is no longer in business is it reasonable to assume there is no longer a copyright in force? Thank you...Joe Byrne

 

[divgradcurl]

Anything originally published in the U.S. prior to 1923 is public domain, so you would be free to use something published in 1898.

 

[boomboom]

Thanks to divgradcurl for the great news!