[Annelida] Copyright question

[Geoff Read]

Michael Boyle wrote:
> Would someone please help me with a question on copyright law: 

Law? As in 'I need a lawyer'?

> Can I 
> present a scanned diagram or sketch, in a current publication, that was 
> published in a manuscript in the 1800's, or nearly 100 years ago?  (e.g. 
> Eisig 1898, Wilson 1892, Child 1900).  The author would certainly be 
> acknowledged.  Or is it preferred that someone redraw the original 
> schematic/sketch and label it as, "adapted from" ....... (author's name, 
> year of publication).  

Copyright laws are country specific, but if those 3 are not public 
domain I'd be very surprised (Wilson surely is public domain). If so 
there is no point in claiming 'adapted from' unless that's really what 
you're doing, i.e. you're going to add your own info to the drawing, 
making use of it for your own purposes, rather than republishing prior 
contributions to the field in context for criticism or commentary.

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter0/0-b.html#3


Geoff