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

Nerdanel · Post by **Nerdanel** » August 16th, 2010, 9:14 am

Hello,

I'd like to read _Last and First Men_ by Olaf Stapledon, which was published in 1930. Is that in the public domain?

Thank you!
Nerdanel

Cori · Post by **Cori** » August 16th, 2010, 12:48 pm

It's in the public domain in some countries, including Australia (it's included on the Project Gutenberg Australia website) but not in the US, where all our files are hosted. So, I'm afraid you can't record it for us until 2026 (tho' we'll welcome it enthusiastically then!)

Gutenberg has lots of other sci fi, some published long after the usual 1923 copyright cut-off, which you might like to take a look at ... we have a popular Short Sci-Fi Story collection which would appreciate your contributions -- a great starting point for recording here!

billybudd · Post by **billybudd** » August 20th, 2010, 7:53 pm

I assume that Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano is still under copyright, as it was published in 1944 and probably (although I haven't been able to confirm) renewed in the 70's. Any confirmation of this would be really helpful, though - it would be great if it turns out that it is available!

Post by **chocoholic** » August 20th, 2010, 8:11 pm

Yes, according to the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the copyright for Under the Volcano was renewed in 1974.

billybudd · Post by **billybudd** » August 20th, 2010, 9:08 pm

Thanks!

cglasgow3x · Post by **cglasgow3x** » September 5th, 2010, 8:02 pm

1984 by George Orwell, I thought that book was amazing because the year it was published he saw what we are going through now. I didn't know he died that soon after it was published. I am aware that after an artist dies the copywrite only extists for a period of time, and I thought that time frame was about 50 - 75 years after death, but I'm getting this information from when I graduated from art school in 1986 so things may have changed since then.

Post by **annise** » September 5th, 2010, 8:22 pm

USA copyright is 95 years after the authors death and he died in 1950. The law has been changed to 95 years at some stage so books before 1923 are PD , but no new ones will become available till 2019

So

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » September 6th, 2010, 1:36 am

95 years after publication, actually, Anne, but I imagine this guy is a spammer anyway so it doesn't matter. 1984 is the first one mentioned on the list in this thread, so he is also quite a lazy spammer.

Post by **annise** » September 10th, 2010, 2:53 am

A very long wait till he and his translations are PD I am afraid

Anne

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » September 10th, 2010, 2:54 am

Philippines.

cragun47 · Post by **cragun47** » September 17th, 2010, 8:00 am

I'm interested in voicing technical documents. Of course most are not in public domain. However there are a large number under GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License

As I understand it, anyone can make derivative works, but must include the GFDL license as part.

Have there been any rulings on these documents?

Post by **TriciaG** » September 17th, 2010, 8:10 am

cragun47 wrote:I'm interested in voicing technical documents. Of course most are not in public domain. However there are a large number under GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License

As I understand it, anyone can make derivative works, but must include the GFDL license as part.[/url]

This wouldn't work here on LibriVox, because we have NO control over the derivative works. You could read them and upload them to Archive.org yourself, if you wanted to do so. (I just tried to get on archive.org to see what their licensing options are, but I am getting an error. Argh!)

sallymc · Post by **sallymc** » November 14th, 2010, 5:26 am

Hi Cori
I see that The Petticoat Commando by Johanna Brandt is being read as a solo, yet the authoress only died in 1964. (18 November 1876 - 13 January 1964)
I battle to find good South African books to read for Librivox as there is so little available in PD. Howcome this one is allowed, even though the date of death is so recent?
Yours
Sallymc

Cori · Post by **Cori** » November 14th, 2010, 5:56 am

The US has a rule that anything published before 1923 is in the public domain in the US, and the date of death doesn't affect that at all. I don't know of any other countries that have a similar rule -- they all work simply from the date of death. But for those of us outside the US, we have to conform to both US and local copyright laws (to stay perfectly legal, anyway.) Because The Petticoat Commando was published in 1913, it's fallen out of copyright in the US, but is still in copyright in most other countries, because of the date of death.

I know it's really unfair ... it's the same for all the public domain books here, written by authors who died before 1940, but which we can't record because they were published too late for the US cutoff.

tyciol · Post by **tyciol** » December 23rd, 2010, 3:32 pm

I hope this isn't overly nosy, but I am curious, would it be possible to make sister sites to LibriVox which are centered in other nations, such as Canada, where the copyrights have already expired?

This whole rule of death thing is kind of depressing. Like on one hand, perhaps it motivates authors to stay alive longer so their copyrights last longer, but I am doubtful as to the impact of that. Moreso I am worried that it may motivate people to not care for the longevity of authors in the interest of making their works available earlier to the public, especially if the author has ceased publishing new material. That's why an expiry based on date of first publication versus date of death would be better.