Some Books that Aren't in the Public Domain (and why)

Post by **chocoholic** » February 20th, 2014, 11:58 am

Just to clarify for newcomers, Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens is public domain in the US, so it is OK for Librivox. However, it may still be under copyright for people who live in countries with life+70 copyright laws. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2892

MNN42 · Post by **MNN42** » October 7th, 2014, 1:07 pm

I would love to see The Neverending Story on Librivox

Post by **chocoholic** » October 7th, 2014, 1:14 pm

MNN42 wrote:I would love to see The Neverending Story on Librivox

Ah, it is still under copyright and will be for a long time to come, so we can't record it. (First published in German in 1979; English translation published in 1983.) To be in the public domain in the USA -- that is to say, OK for LibriVox to record -- books generally have to have been published in 1922 or earlier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverending_Story

DisembodiedVoice · November 11th, 2014, 6:55 pm

This seemed like the right place to put this.

I looked for Darkness Visible by William Styron. It doesn't look like it should be in the public domain (published 1990), but Archive.org has it up in it's totality, and it claims to only put up books in the public domain.

Here's a link to it: Darkness Visible https://archive.org/details/DarknessVisiblewilliamStyron

Could someone take a look and see if it's actually something we can do, or if they have some kind of special permission?

Post by **TriciaG** » November 11th, 2014, 7:03 pm

I looked for Darkness Visible by William Styron. It doesn't look like it should be in the public domain (published 1990), but Archive.org has it up in it's totality, and it claims to only put up books in the public domain.

Not true. People can upload books and claim anything about them. Archive won't verify, but will take them down if/when someone complains.

This one is put up NOT as PD (CC0) but as "CC Attribution 3.0" meaning it's free to use, IF the user gives appropriate credit, provides a link to the license, and indicates if changes were made. It's not a license we can use.

carteki · Post by **carteki** » January 10th, 2015, 1:11 pm

A person reasonably well connected with David Foster Wallace mentioned that his books are all in the public domain. Is this possible for someone who isn't yet 50? (He's also dead). It would be great if we could record those.

Thanks

Post by **TriciaG** » January 10th, 2015, 1:15 pm

I don't see how they could be. At the very least, the publishing house holds rights to them, even if the author gave away all his own rights before he died.

Anfinwen · Post by **Anfinwen** » February 9th, 2015, 5:20 pm

Hi, I have a couple books I would be interested in reading (once I finally get the time to try it), but I'm unsure of their status. The first is "The Marvelous Land of Snergs" by E.A. Wyke-Smith. It was first published in 1927, so perhaps it is nearly in the public domain? Next is "Leave it to Psmith" by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in 1923. And last is "At Gettysburgh" by Tillie Pierce Alleman, originally published in 1888. The version I have says that new material (the introduction) is copyrighted 1987.

Post by **TriciaG** » February 9th, 2015, 5:29 pm

Leave it to Psmith had its copyright renewed, so it'll be copyright free in 2019.

In a cursory glance, I haven't found a copyright renewal for Snergs, but I haven't found the text offered anywhere online, which leads me to believe that it is still under copyright as well. It'll be copyright-free in 2023.

And last is "At Gettysburgh" by Tillie Pierce Alleman, originally published in 1888. The version I have says that new material (the introduction) is copyrighted 1987.

This one (not your version - don't trust it!) is out of copyright! It's here at Archive: https://archive.org/details/atgettysburgorwh00alle It's a scan of an old edition, so it's safe to read from.

Anfinwen · Post by **Anfinwen** » February 9th, 2015, 5:32 pm

TriciaG wrote:Leave it to Psmith had its copyright renewed, so it'll be copyright free in 2019.

That's only 4 years to wait! I shall find a different book to read for now.

TriciaG wrote: one (not your version - don't trust it!) is out of copyright! It's here at Archive: https://archive.org/details/atgettysburgorwh00alle It's a scan of an old edition, so it's safe to read from.

Thanks so much!

Post by **TriciaG** » February 9th, 2015, 5:32 pm

See my edit above.

Cori · Post by **Cori** » February 10th, 2015, 12:49 pm

My guess is that Snergs was first published in the UK, so wouldn't need a US renewal to get the full term of US copyright. It's public domain already in Europe/Canada/Australia and other places, so could perhaps be recorded at legamus.eu if you aren't based in the US.

Anfinwen · Post by **Anfinwen** » February 23rd, 2015, 4:37 pm

Thank you for the info, but I am in the US.

What about "The Pretty Sister of José" by Frances Hodgson-Burnett? I'm pretty sure it is in the public domain, but last time I checked it hadn't been recorded. I just wanted to make sure there was no reason why we couldn't do it.

Post by **TriciaG** » February 23rd, 2015, 4:46 pm

1889 - it's A-OK!

It's on Gutenberg here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25726

carteki · Post by **carteki** » March 17th, 2015, 9:41 am

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.krashen/posts/947925161893177?fref=nf
via Facebook

Stephen Krashen
My 1982 book, Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, has been out of print for a few years. You can download FREE COPIES (as many as you like) from http://www.sdkrashen.com (first page, left hand column). You do not need to ask for my permission.
You do not have my permission to sell the downloaded version. It is free. May be used for courses as assigned or recommended reading.

Don't know if that means we can record it or if anyone is interested in recording it.