Before he died in 1970, Pottsville novelist John O’Hara, who featured Harrisburg in some of the books and short stories he wrote during a 40-year career, could not reclaim the copyrights to his work, whether he wanted to or not.
In fact, until the law changed six years after O’Hara’s death, authors and other artists essentially gave up their copyrights forever. The rights transferred back to their estate or a designated beneficiary only upon their death.
But starting Jan. 1, 2013, under revisions to the United States Copyright Act adopted in 1976, the creators of books, songs, plays, photographs, paintings, etc. can recapture the copyrights to their work after 35 years.
Publishers and recording companies are worried what it may mean for their bottom lines. It’s not clear what will happen once music groups and authors whose works were recorded or published in 1978 and thereafter begin to reclaim their rights.
One thing is certain, said Kelley Keller, a Carlisle attorney who specializes in copyright law: “It’s changing the bargaining power for artists.”
That could mean greater profit and artistic control. Musicians like Don Henley, founder of the Eagles, have long griped that the recording industry has always made far more money on their recordings than they have.
Artists have between two and ten years in which to notify their publishing house or recording company that they intend to reclaim their copyrights. This law only applies to the federal copyright law.
As the copyright recapture comes up next year, artists are concerned about what they should do, if anything. In most cases, Keller said, the artist may just want to re-negotiate their copyright contract.
Keller said the law particularly benefits young artists today who will be able to strike better deals because they know they can reclaim their copyrights in 35 years.
“Young artists have more bargaining power than they used to have,” she said.
John O’Hara never had such opportunity. His copyrights were inherited by his daughter, Wylie O’Hara Doughty, said Richard Carreño, a writer and corresponding secretary of the John O’Hara Society in Philadelphia.
In the 42 years since her father’s death, she has not granted those rights to publishers to re-issue or anthologize such works as O’Hara’s “Appointment in Samarra,” “Ten North Frederick” and “BUtterfield 8.”
That’s something fans and scholars of the writer regret, Carreño said. “It’s a pity that his books will not be known to new generations.”
