Helenoran462 wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:09 pmMy feeling is that if the barrister did inherit Sir Arthur Waite's copywrite, then wouldn't the date of Waite's death be the one the public domain status is based upon? Since Pamala Coleman Smith died in poverty, surely she was not receiving royalties from sales of the book? (or cards, for that matter.
No, it doesn't work like that. Even in the case of an assigned copyright, the term is still calculated based on the originator of the work, not that of whoever ends up owning the copyright. If assignment reset the clock, it would be a means to extend copyright indefinitely.
