Is this book suitable for a solo?

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Steven Seitel
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Joined: February 15th, 2010, 5:12 pm
Location: Montana USA

Post by Steven Seitel »

Hi, all...I need some advice.

I would like to do a solo recording of "The Romance of Excavation," by David Masters (Charles Edwin Brand, 1883-1965), Published London: John Lane 1923. However, I am unsure this book is in the public domain in the US, and ask your advice on whether or not to proceed. It would be my first solo.

In the UK, the copyright term appears to extend 70 years after death, so the book is probably NOT public domain there. If it had been first published in the US, it would be PD. For recording books on Librivox, what rules determine eligibility?

In short, can I record this book for LV now, or do I need to wait until 2035? :hmm:

Obviously, I'm not an expert on copyright law. If it's a dumb question, I apologize. Thank you for your help.

Steve Seitel
...and then I thought: "Oh, what the Heck? Why not?..." —W.O.B.
Steven Seitel
Posts: 983
Joined: February 15th, 2010, 5:12 pm
Location: Montana USA

Post by Steven Seitel »

I forgot to mention the source image is at archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/romanceofexcavat00mastuoft/page/n7

Thanks, too, to TriciaG for the list of "Some More Obscure 1923 Books" in the Book Suggestions forum.

Steve Seitel
...and then I thought: "Oh, what the Heck? Why not?..." —W.O.B.
moniaqua
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Post by moniaqua »

Steven Seitel wrote: January 8th, 2019, 8:35 pm For recording books on Librivox, what rules determine eligibility?
For LibriVox the US laws, as the servers are hosted in US. For you the laws of the country you are in. If you are in Europe, the book is still copyrighted for you. If you make a trip to US, hmm, good question. I am not a lawyer, but I suppose you could read it there :hmm:
annise
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Post by annise »

The laws seem to say "resident", not "citizen" so not in any way offering legal advice my understanding is as I've said.

Anne
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Post by tovarisch »

I believe usually laws apply first (and foremost) by territory and only then (some of them) by citizenship or nationality. General laws like copyright are purely territorial, IMU.
tovarisch
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TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Ah, yes, he died in 1965.

To determine if a specific person can record a book, one must look at the copyright laws in the US (for LibriVox) and which country the reader is in (for them). So:

Book published in 1923 - this makes it recordable for LibriVox.
Author died less than 70 years ago and after 1955 - people in Europe or Australia would be breaking copyright law by recording the book.

If an Australian or European spent a year in the US, they could record this book while in the US, but I suppose they'd be bringing back an illegal copy on their hard drive if they returned home with the audio still on their computer.

If an American went to Europe or Australia for a year, they should wait to record this book until they're back in the USA, because they'd be breaking copyright law by recording it in a country where it's still under copyright.

Make sense?
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Steven Seitel
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Joined: February 15th, 2010, 5:12 pm
Location: Montana USA

Post by Steven Seitel »

Thank you all. That helps a lot.
I should have mentioned that I am in the US.
I'll dig deeper into recording the book...gotta learn the rules, still.

Steve Seitel
...and then I thought: "Oh, what the Heck? Why not?..." —W.O.B.
Carolin
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Post by Carolin »

Well that makes it easy. To sum up then, for clarity:
If you are in the united states, you only need to worry about us law, and in principle all books with a 1923 date on them (or earlier) are fair game :D
Carolin
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