I’m now looking at including the original text in any printed version of Origen on Ezekiel. We’re using the edition by W. Baehrens, published in the GCS 30 (1921) [1], as reprinted in the Sources Chretiennes edition.
According to Wikipedia, Baehrens died in 1929, which is more than 70 years ago and so makes his work out of copyright in the EU (including Germany). The US copyright position is less clear, but I doubt anyone will care, once it is out of copyright in its ‘home’ country.
So it looks as if I can just use this.
I do wish, tho, that I could actually obtain a copy of Baehrens’ edition!
- [1]Origenes Werke VII. Homilien zum Hexateuch (1. Aufl. 1921: W. A. Baehrens)↩
But should you wait until the end of this year?
Is his work out of copyright by now?
For the US, it’s published before 1924, so it should be public domain. The lifespan of the author does not matter in such cases.
Thanks Andreas: 1929 + 70 = 1999, so I should be OK.
Thank you Stephen; of course you’re quite right.
Sorry.
I mean. Is the copyright length just life + 70 years? Or life + 70 years until year end?
Ah. Well, I have no idea whether the term is life plus seventy years plus the remainder of the year or not. But since life plus seventy years expired in 1999, it’s not a problem I needed to worry about!