This work is in the public domain in France for one of the following reasons:
Its author (or the last of its authors in the case of a collaboration work) died more than 70 years ago (CPI art. L123-1) and did not benefit from any copyright extension (CPI art. L123-8, L123-9 and L123-10)[1];
It is an anonymous or pseudonymous work (the identity of the author has never been disclosed) or a collective work[2] and more than 70 years have passed since its publication (CPI art. L123-3);
It is the recording of an audiovisual or musical work already in the public domain, and more than 50 years have passed since the performance or the recording (CPI art. L211-4).
Please note that moral rights still apply when the work is in the public domain. They encompass, among others, the right to the respect of the author's name, quality and work (CPI art. L121-1). Attribution therefore remains mandatory.
↑Copyright extensions must be considered only in the case of musical works and of authors Mort pour la France (died during conflict, in the service of France). In other cases, they are included in the 70 years post mortem auctoris length (see this statement of the Cour de Cassation).
↑The collective work status is quite restrictive, please make sure that it is actually established.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it meets three requirements:
it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days),
it was first published before 1 March 1989 without copyright notice or before 1964 without copyright renewal or before the source country established copyright relations with the United States,
it was in the public domain in its home country (France) on the URAA date (1 January 1996).
For background information, see the explanations on Non-U.S. copyrights. see also below
First published (anonymously) as an illustration in ***DETAILS OF BOOK HERE*** in 1929. The French copyright term for anonymous non-musical works on 1996-01-01 was 50 years from 1 January following publication (see Art. L123-1, Code of Intellectual Property, in its version of 1995-01-03). France did not transpose the EU Copyright Duration Directive (93/98/EEC), extending copyright terms to 70 years, until 1997-04-01 (see Law 97-283).
Please note that moral rights still apply when the work is in the public domain. They encompass, among others, the right to the respect of the author's name, quality and work (CPI art. L121-1). Attribution therefore remains mandatory.
