These tab-separated files are a simplified version of the output of the cce-python project. The goal is to provide an easy (if incomplete) answer to this question:
Of the books published in the US before 1963, which ones had their copyright renewed and which ones lapsed into the public domain?
These files were generated using the cce-python project. That project generates a much larger dataset, which is probably better for convincing lawyers, but these spreadsheets can be used to get a quick overview of the pre-1963 publishing landscape.
-
FINAL-renewed.tsv- These registrations have at least one corresponding renewal, which means they were probably renewed and the underlying books are still in copyright. However, many registration IDs were reused over the years, and it's possible that the registration and renewal are for different books -- in which case the unrenewed book might be in the public domain after all. -
FINAL-not-renewed.tsv- No renewal was found for these registrations, so there's a very good argument that they lapsed into the public domain. Making this determination is an important step -- but not the only step -- towards making digitized editions of this these books freely available. -
FINAL-foreign.tsv- Books that seem to have been published outside the US. Such works had their copyright restored by treaty, so they're all still under copyright. It's good to have a list of these books, in case you're wondering why a book doesn't show up on one of the other lists.