The Fredösphere

The Standing Room informs us of a handy flow chart for determining the copyright status of a work.  TSR finds humor in the complexity of the chart, which resembles a plateful of angel hair pasta.  Indeed, the copyright law is a nightmare of conditions and bizarre exceptions.

That's not the worst of it.

The mere existence of this chart implies the following scenario:  I find a piece of music that contains a tune I want to use in the tuba concerto I'm writing.  The copyright was secured in 1940, then renewed in the 1960s.  But the law is so complicated, I'll never be sure if it's in the public domain!  I'm dead in the water!

Here's the way it really works:  I find a poem I want to set to music.  It says it was copyrighted in 1940.  There is no mention of renewal, but that doesn't mean anything.  The author is so obscure, he's ungoogleable.  The publishing company is long gone.  The library of congress could do a search for you, but that's slow, and it proves nothing if they find nothing.  I can't use the flow chart because I cannot find the answers to critical questions it asks.

In other words, needing help to determine how this byzantine law applies to one's particular situation is a lofty state which one rarely attains.