Fascination with copyright dates?

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Was (or is) anyone ever interested in the copyright/manufacture dates of books, periodicals and films? I used to be, from the ages of about of....gosh, I think from about 7 to...heck, I'm still curious about them at the age of 22. Whenever I was in a library and saw a book that interested me, I had to check the copyright information to see during which era it was published in, whether it was in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s. I was fascinated by the use of certain expressions and colloquialisms used in some of the "classic" books I read, and was interested to find out during which decade they had the most frequent period of use, and other similar things. Same things with the movies I liked. It was strange, but before I became aware of copyright dates, I had no concept of certain things (such as the Disney movies/cartoons I enjoyed) being "before my time".....I just assumed everything I watched had existed in my lifetime. Does that make sense?

Anyone else?

I have that same fascination!

one of the first things i do when i get a new book i know little bout is flip to see the publishing date.
i have been surprised a couple of times, as in "they were saying that back then?"

also like seeing items published around my birthdate, see how much things have changed in the short time since i was born.

I've always found copyright dates to be a bit misleading, since they're often a year ahead of or behind when something was actually published or released. Knowing the "copyright" date of a movie, game, or album doesn't really interest me, but the release date definitely interests me.

But, why are copyright dates often not the same as release dates? It's always puzzled me.

It's my understanding, at least in the US, that the copyright date is the year that it is still under a Creative Commons license, and as such, under stricter guidelines when it comes to its usage by third parties.

I like seeing when things were made to see if they were made around my birthday (not including the year). That's the depth of my interest in them, though.

Actually, copyright comes into play as soon as a work of intellectual property is created. A common trick used to establish copyright is to use the U.S. Postal Service to mail your work to yourself. The postmark is all you need to establish the date and time a work was copyrighted. Still, if you want you copyright to have some teeth, you send your work also to the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

I don't know about Canada, but the copyright date may be later on a work due to the backlog in the Copyright office of the Library of Congress

I'm pretty sure the Creative Commons license was only a recent invention, and that in order for something to be licensed under it, you specifically have to license it as such.

It's a bit embarrassing to expose my ignorance but I don't know how the copyright date and the publication date relate to each other. Could they be years apart?

Any way, I do look at the publication/copyright date of books. If it's a technical book, then I want the date to be close to the present. If it's a fiction, the date (year) will tell me what to expect. I once read a fiction published in 1920's. There were quite a few derogatory terms against disabled people used very naturally in it. I was surprised that in the same book homosexuality was treated rather nicely.

I wouldnt say that I am obsessed with such dates, but its a natural thing to look for copyright or "printed in" dates especially on music recordings. If you get a vinyl LP or 45 in used record shop its natural to try to find a date on it of somekind. Often there is no date on recordings. Or sometimes the blurb on the cover written by some music critic has a copyright date, but not the album itsself (but that date gives you a rough idea when the album came out).

Yep.

I always look at the published date of the book before I read it.

I had that fascination since I was around 12. Whenever I would get a new book, I couldn't help but look for the year it came out. Sometimes, it surprises me, because I would think the book would be either older or newer than when it came out, judging by its illustrations and condition of the pages. I would also watch the credits of a TV show or movie, just to see what year it came out.

Yes copyright exists upon creation of a work. It may not be released until later.

If you are the sole creator of a work, you have the copyright in it. It is yours. That doesn't mean someone won't infringe on it, but it's still yours*. You do not have to register it anywhere. This differs from an invention where you do need to register a patent.

Creative commons is a license under which you may publish work which is less restrictive than standard copyright. But it is a license - so you still own the copyright, you've just given people assurance that they may use your work under certain conditions (e.g. attribution). It is, yes, a fairly new invention.

Copyright is meant to be held for only a certain period of time, then a work enters the public domain. This is different than creative commons. Once a work enters the public domain anyone can use it for anything.

Copyright did not always rest with the author from creation. And in the US in particular, there were some very weird copyright laws and sometimes registration was required. But in general, today, if you write something you have copyright in it until 70 years after your death (that is your estate can hold copyright) as long as your country is a signatory to an international convention (I'd guess all Western countries are)
which harmonises some aspects copyright across the world.

Copyright is fascinating.

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*standard employment contracts mean that if you create a work while in the employ of someone else they likely own the copyright. Corporations can hold copyright, too - a work created today has copyright that expires in 95 years. Photographers often stipulate that they own the copyright in a work even if it's done in your employ as part of their standard service terms, e.g. wedding photographs.

Yes, about films, some books, and other things too. SOmetimes I can spot when there's an error. FOr an example, they can say 1994, when I know it's 1993. I don't like that they don't put the copyright year anymore on some products.