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File:Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) front cover, first edition.jpg

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Summary

Description
English: Dust jacket of the first edition of Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. No copyright markings on the dust jacket, which required a separate notice from the book itself.
Date
Source

Front cover

Heritage Auctions
Author Jacket design by Ben Feder, Inc.
Permission
(Reusing this file)

No permission is required because the dust jacket was first published prior to 1978 without a valid copyright notice. Stranger in a Strange Land was first published in 1961; the hardcover book itself carried a copyright notice, so its contents remain copyrighted. However, the first-edition dust jacket did not carry a separate copyright notice. According to the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices: Chapter 2200, § 2207.1(C) at p. 15:

"A notice of copyright on the dust jacket of a book is not an acceptable notice for the book, because the dust jacket is not permanently attached to the book. Likewise, a notice appearing in a book is not an acceptable notice for the dust jacket or any material appearing on that dust jacket, even if the book refers to the jacket or material appearing on the jacket."

Keep in mind that the pre-1989 requirements for copyright notice were highly formalistic and, other than a few enumerated exceptions, required these three elements:

  1. "The symbol © or the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.' or an acceptable variant such as "(c)";
  2. "The year of first publication for the work"; and
  3. "The name of the copyright owner, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner."

If just one of these elements is omitted, the work is deemed to be published without notice and is not eligible for copyright protection. A proper copyright notice is not visible anywhere on the dust jacket. Credits like "Jacket design by Ben Feder, Inc." do not meet the requirements, nor do the identifications of the publisher and author.

Note: this explanation is largely copied from that given at File:To Kill a Mockingbird (first edition cover).jpg
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Licensing



Public domain book jacket 		This image is in the public domain because it is of a book dust jacket first or simultaneously published in the United States between 1931 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice, or between 1978 and 28 February 1989, inclusive, without a notice and subsequent registration with the Copyright Office within 5 years.

Per the 1973 Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices 4.3.1.II.d and 4.4.3.IV, removable dust jackets are treated as separate works from the books they cover. The same is said in the 2014 Compendium.[1]

For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death),[2] and those that do but do not interpret a failure to comply with formalities as an expiration of a work's term of protection.[3]

  1. ↑ See Chapter 2200, § 2207.1(C) at p. 15:
    "A notice of copyright on the dust jacket of a book is not an acceptable notice for the book, because the dust jacket is not permanently attached to the book. Likewise, a notice appearing in a book is not an acceptable notice for the dust jacket or any material appearing on that dust jacket, even if the book refers to the jacket or material appearing on the jacket."
  2. ↑ These include Canada (70 p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 p.m.a.), Mexico (100 p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties.
  3. ↑ France is one such example. See 17 December 2009 - Cour de cassation - Pourvoi n° 07-21.115.

Captions

Cover of the first edition of Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current23:23, 2 July 2025Thumbnail for version as of 23:23, 2 July 20251,991 × 2,920 (2.24 MB)Dantus21Cropped 3 % horizontally, 3 % vertically, 5 % areawise using CropTool with lossless mode.
23:22, 2 July 2025Thumbnail for version as of 23:22, 2 July 20252,050 × 3,000 (2.18 MB)Dantus21higher res
23:21, 2 July 2025Thumbnail for version as of 23:21, 2 July 2025762 × 1,149 (276 KB)Dantus21File:Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) dust jacket, first edition.jpg cropped 75 % horizontally, 6 % vertically, 76 % areawise using CropTool with lossless mode.

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