IMSLP Forums

Just to verify: This composer's (who died tragically in 1940) unpublished works are PD in the US and Canada, yes?

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Naginski

Hi kosboot,

Well, it's a little complicated. In Canada, all works of Naginski are in the public domain except those which were made public (not "published"!) between 1972 and 1998. Those works are protected for 50 years from first being made public.

In the US, normal copyright rules apply for works published in 1977 or earlier. Generally, Naginski's works which were published between 1929 and 1977 are under US copyright. For works published between 1978 and 2002, these works are also under copyright, and will only enter the US public domain in 2048. Works published in 2003 or later, including unpublished works, are in the US public domain.

So, yes, all of Naginski's unpublished works are in the public domain in the US and Canada.

For reference, the only works under copyright in Canada are those first published between 1972 and 1998, whilst only works first published between 1929 and 2002 are generally under copyright in the US.

Note that any of Naginski's works which were first published between 1929 and 1963 are only copyrighted in the US if the copyright was renewed.