copyright public-domain derivative-work
Is an adaptation or translation of a public domain hymn also in the public domain?
<p>In Christian hymnbooks today it is common to find hymns that were written in the 1700s or 1800s. However, most of the time these hymns have been adapted, to modernize older language, or to adjust the meaning of a phrase for a broader audience.</p>

<p>According to current copyright law in the United States, printed works published before 1923 are in the public domain. Are the adapted versions of pre-1923 hymns that appear in current hymnbooks also in the public domain? What about translations?</p>

<p>An example is the hymn "How Firm a Foundation." Different texts can be compared here:
<a href="https://hymnary.org/text/how_firm_a_foundation_ye_saints_of/compare" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://hymnary.org/text/how_firm_a_foundation_ye_saints_of/compare</a></p>

<p>I am interested mainly in the United States copyright / public domain law.</p>

<p>According to <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/103" rel="nofollow noreferrer">US law according to Cornell</a>, copyright applies to derivative works.  A derivative work is an original work based on a previous work (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Definitions</a>), so the adaptations would be copyrightable unless they were held to be unoriginal.  In general, the courts don't require much creativity to consider a work original.  Translations are original works.</p>

<p>Therefore, the adaptations are almost certainly under copyright, while the originals remain public domain.</p>

<p>Unless the adaptation is itself old enough to be out of copyright, or is so close to the original that it is not considered original enough to support a copyright (and that is a quite low bar), each such adaptation has its own copyright under US law, which would have been initially owned by the creator of the adaptation.  Such adaptations are just as protected as if they were not adaptations, but independent original works. </p>
