Copyright renewal of U.S. books published in 1932: Reanalyzing ringer’s study to determine a more accurate renewal rate for books

In 1961, Barbara Ringer published “Study No. 31: Renewal of Copyright,” where she determined the renewal rate for fiscal year 1932 U.S. publications. In that study, she concludes that the renewal rate for Class A works for FY1932 was 7 percent. This paper seeks to reassess Ringer’s study by analyzing the copyright registrations for 1932 and their renewals published in the Catalogue of Copyright Entries. This was done to determine a renewal rate specifically for books rather than Class A as a whole, which includes other materials. The analysis determines that the copyright renewal rate for books is actually 26 to 33 percent, significantly higher than 7 percent claimed by Ringer.