Who holds the copyright in the work Märchen den Völker which has been re-published on this website?
Under the laws of the member states of the European Union and many other countries, such as the USA, Stefan Mart holds this right as the person who wrote and illustrated the book. Should author and illustrator be two different people - which is unlikely but not impossible - then both persons have the rights in their respective contributions to the work.
In 1933 Stefan Mart transferred his rights in his work to the publisher indicated on the front page of Märchen den Völker, namely to the Hamburg company "Cigaretten - Bilderdienst Hamburg-Bahrenfeld GmbH".
Copyright in literary and artistic works is only granted for a certain period. In Germany (as in all European Union member states under the Copyright Directive of 1993), copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author (§ 64 Urhebergesetz / S 64 German Copyright Act). After the expiry of copyright, protected works enter into the public domain.
In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous authors, the law provides 70 years' protection from the year of publication (§ 66 Abs. 1 S. 1 und 2 Urhebergesetz / S 66,1 German Copyright Act). This applies to Stefan Mart (cf. Introduction). Märchen den Völker was published in 1933. The copyright protection for Märchen den Völker therefore expired at the beginning of 2003; the work has since then been in the public domain.
The author of this website has made every effort to establish the identity of Stefan Mart and/or of the person who signed the illustrations as "Digeer", so far without success. Should I succeed in establishing beyond doubt the identity of Stefan Mart or of Digeer I shall clarify the question of copyright with him or with his heirs or trustees.
Rainer Würgau is the author of "Stefan Mart Homepage" and of the commentaries on Stefan Mart's stories and pictures.
Ruth Fleischmann holds the copyright in the translations of Märchen der Völker under the title Tales of the Nations, published for the first time on this website.
Paintings and graphic art works have been reproduced in the commentaries on Stefan Mart's illustrations. The purpose was to explain and elucidate the commentaries. Such use is permitted under international copyright law (Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Art. 10,1).
The author has made every effort to respect the copyright in the works reproduced. Should a source have not been acknowledged, I take this opportunity of apologising for such an oversight and will make the necessary correction at the first opportunity.
This work - the website and the English translation of Stefan Mart's texts - is not public domain. But you are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and to make derivative works under certain conditions. Discover more about these conditions by viewing the CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE of this website.