Omar Khayyam, an eminent Persian astronomer who died in 1132, wrote many verses ´ in the Persian language. These were collected and translated into poetic English in 1859 as The Rubaiy ´ at of Omar Khayy ´ am´ by Edward FitzGerald (1809–1883). Imagine that current Canadian copyright law had applied for five centuries in Persia and England.
(a) When would Khayyam’s copyright on his work have expired? ´
(b) Could FitzGerald copyright the translation in 1859?
(c) If the answer to part (b) is affirmative, in which year would FitzGerald’s copyright expire?
(d) If you publish a newly illustrated version of FitzGerald’s Rubaiy ´ at´ this year, can you copyright it this year?
