This question is related to Legal Considerations When Self-Publishing a Book and motivated by comments made by David Siegel therein.
When self-publishing a re-typeset book, say on Amazon, that one believes to be in the public domain, can the typesetter be protected from personal liability by first forming an LLC and then uploading the book to Amazon with the imprint of that LLC in the event that the public domain status of the original title is contested?
I ask this, because in the United States, it seems pretty clear that if a book was published more than 95 years ago---it is in the public domain. However, it is not always clear if a book published less than 95 years ago, say in 1955, had neglected to renew their copyright after twenty-eight years---thus allowing the copyright to lapse.
If I check, say, some of the existing copyright renewal databases, and cannot find evidence that the copyright had been renewed---and upload a retypeset version of that book to Amazon---I would like to know if an LLC will offer protection of my personal assets in the event of a lawsuit claiming infringement of an existing copyright (though the infringement, if actual, be innocent).
