What the engine uses
The core inputs are the type of work, publication and creation dates, source country, publication status, creator death years, corporate authorship, renewal status and restored foreign rights. A missing fact stays missing. It is not silently filled with a convenient assumption.
What a result means
Public domain means the available facts pass a supported rule. In copyright means the calculated term has not ended. Probably in copyright signals a missing check, such as renewal or restored rights. Unknown means the engine lacks a fact or rule needed for a responsible answer.
Separate layers stay separate
A musical composition and a recording of it have different terms. A novel and its translation can differ. A film can contain music, artwork and performances with separate rights. The records link these layers without treating one answer as the answer for all of them.
How the expanded catalogue is sourced
The 6,721 imported written works have a Wikidata work record, a human creator with a death date and a linked Project Gutenberg catalogue identifier. The importer confirms that identifier in Project Gutenberg's official offline catalogue. Publication years come from Wikidata because Project Gutenberg does not include original print publication dates. These records are source-backed calculations, not individual legal opinions.
How updates are produced
The Mac Pro records the eligible launch-universe count, keeps dated raw source responses, sends uncertain identity matches to a review queue and calls the same compiled term engine used by the website. A successful run writes 6,738 per-work records, 2,855 creator records, six jurisdiction files, year indexes and the database batch used by the hosted API. A failed fetch, validation, test or build stops publication.
Current limits
This release implements the main term paths for the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia and Japan. It does not yet cover every transitional provision, treaty rule, Crown right, publication formality or national exception. Film and historic recording results carry extra cautions where needed.
The engine must never turn a missing or contradictory fact into a confident public domain answer.