Another convoluted copyright question

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NinaBrown
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Post by NinaBrown »

Hi,

I am thinking of recording a Polish book, by Boleslaw Lesmian 1877-1937. The book was written and first published in 1913 (Przygody Sindbada Zeglarza - Adventures of Sindbad the Sailor). Sounds good.
But... the earliest edition I can find to use is a scan from 1936, or text in wikisources based on the 1957 edition. This is a children story, and I don't see any reason for these editions to be changed in any way. Is it ok to use one of these sources?

warm regards
nina
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

What does the copyright page say? Does it say (in Polish, of course) "Copyright 1913" or "copyright 1936"?
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Or wait, have you seen this thread? It probably applies here as well: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=37523
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
NinaBrown
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Post by NinaBrown »

TriciaG wrote:Or wait, have you seen this thread? It probably applies here as well: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=37523
Hi, Tricia,
Yes, I am aware of this thread.
The 1936 scan has no mention of copyright. The only information is (roughly)

Name of publishing house
Name of graphic artist and illustrator
Additional information about 30 special copies on hand made paper, hand illustrated
year 1936


Looking deeper into these scans I realised that the book is not complete and two last chapters are missing. So even if this was acceptable is not useable :-(
The 1957 text (also on wikisources) links, as a source, to another digital edition that does not mention any copyright or publisher information. This digital edition is actually on the pages recommended by LibriVox here: http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Book_Resources#Non-English_Languages - here is the website: http://literat.ug.edu.pl/zulu/zasad.htm
Quoting from the front page of that website:

WIRTUALNA BIBLIOTEKA LITERATURY POLSKIEJ
jest prezentacją znaczących utworów literatury polskiej wolnych od praw autorskich w dniu 1 września 1999 roku, dostępną bez ograniczeń dla wszystkich użytkowników Internetu dla celów naukowych, dydaktycznych i edukacyjnych.


VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF POLISH LITERATURE
contains major Polish literary works free of copyright as at 1st of September 1999. Access is available to all internet users for research and educational purposes.

The text published there is based on the 1957 edition. I am contacting friends in Poland to source this edition somewhere and scan or photograph the pages with copyright notes. Actually this is the very edition I've read as a child - even seeing the cover (I found some scans of the cover on internet but nothing from the inside) brings many wonderful memories.

And if this doesn't work - there are soo many books out there begging for our attention :-)

cheers
nina
RuthieG
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Post by RuthieG »

Not that this is probably much use, but Stanford University has a copy of the 1913 edition:

Long Worldcat link

Ruth
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NinaBrown
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Post by NinaBrown »

RuthieG wrote:Not that this is probably much use, but Stanford University has a copy of the 1913 edition:

Long Worldcat link

Ruth
Thank you Ruth. I contacted them today asking if they are offering scanning services :-) I will keep you posted.
warm regards
nina
NinaBrown
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Post by NinaBrown »

So, there is a final follow up and recap.

The text itself is in public domain, both in Poland and US. Written in 1913 and the author died in 1937.
Stanford University library has the original 1913 edition, but they don't offer scanning services, even that I was willing to pay.
The only complete digital texts I was able to find are:
http://www.wolnelektury.pl/katalog/lektura/przygody-sindbada-zeglarza/ based on 1936 copy and
http://literat.ug.edu.pl/sindbad/index.htm based on 1957 copy. (this website is listed in LibriVox resources for Polish books)
National Library in Canberra has the 1957 copy. I requested a scan of the first and last 5 pages. This scan as pdf is available here:
http://relais-prod.nla.gov.au/requests/3777768.pdf and will be available for next 10 days to download, otherwise I have a copy. The publisher's note at the front states that this is the 3rd edition, but I don't see anything about a copyright.

What do you reckon? It is a learning exercise for me and I promise not to cry if you say no :-)

warm regards
nina
Peter Why
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Post by Peter Why »

The Stanford University page seems to say that this book is available for download as an ebook. I don't think I can actually download it myself to check. The only limitation mentioned for the book seems to be that there aren't any illustrations.

Link here: http://www.worldcat.org/title/przygody-sindbada-zeglarza-powiesc-fantastyczna-ilustracye-i-okladka-jozefa-toma/oclc/38636511/editions?referer=di&editionsView=true

... though I may be getting this completely wrong!
Peter
"I think, therefore I am, I think." Solomon Cohen, in Terry Pratchett's Dodger
NinaBrown
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Post by NinaBrown »

Peter Why wrote:The Stanford University page seems to say that this book is available for download as an ebook. I don't think I can actually download it myself to check. The only limitation mentioned for the book seems to be that there aren't any illustrations.

Link here: http://www.worldcat.org/title/przygody-sindbada-zeglarza-powiesc-fantastyczna-ilustracye-i-okladka-jozefa-toma/oclc/38636511/editions?referer=di&editionsView=true

... though I may be getting this completely wrong!
Peter
Hi, Peter,
I contacted Stanford Uni directly asking about availability of that book. I asked about the scanning service because I could not find the ebook link anywhere. So if there was an ebook wouldn't they mention it? Don't you think it would be cruel and selfish to have that PUBLIC DOMAIN ebook only available to Stanford students?? :shock: Maybe I will send them another email... Remember that quote from Galaxy Quest "never give up, never surrender"? That's how I feel today!!! :twisted:
warm regards
nina
annise
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Post by annise »

If it is only available to students - maybe post asking if someone here has access to Stanford Library and then they could get it for you :D. There may be an inter university setup for students and staff or something .

Anne
Alatariel
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Post by Alatariel »

My university belongs to WorldCat, so presumably when I'm logged in to my school library website I should be able to see any ebooks that come up (I've been able to before, for other books). But this one just showed up as a blank page for me. I saw that the link led to a Google Books URL, so I searched for it in Google Books, but the only things that came up were newer editions (snippet only or no preview). :hmm:
NinaBrown
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Post by NinaBrown »

Thank you so much guys for taking interest in this. The person who replied to me from Stanford said that the book was not available via Google Books (I knew that already). Will keep you posted :-)
thank you
Nina
Peter Why
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Post by Peter Why »

I should have checked that ebook link, but I assumed, as the page asked for my location, that my application would have been blocked. I tried it today; you're right: despite saying it's available as an ebook, it isn't.

And there don't seem to be any copies of anything by this author published before 1923 on abebooks,either, which is odd.

Peter
"I think, therefore I am, I think." Solomon Cohen, in Terry Pratchett's Dodger
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