making replicas

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

In terms of copyright violations, it would seem to me that any card worth reproducing has long been in the public domain. Although I am only a law student and have not studied copyright law, I believe that the original act of 1909 states that in order to be protected by copyright, a work actually has to contain the circled c along with a publishing date, etc. Furthermore, I believe copyright protection was only 28 years plus a 2nd term of 28 years if renewed. It wasn't until the 1976 act, effective Jan 1, 1978 that copyright protection was extended to author's life + 70. Likewise, I would view any reproduction of a card that adds even a different color hue, print scheme, watermark, etc as being a derivitive work, hence not infringement. I could be wrong here but it's my opinion...