What's a Book You Wish Was in the Public Domain?

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Bookworm360
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Post by Bookworm360 »

lethargilistic wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 4:19 pm I think copyright, if it exists, should last no longer than 10 years. So that's a lot of books, haha.
Oh yes! 10 would be ideal, but authors do have to make a living. It should be 50 at the most. But 96... :shock:
2 Timothy 1:7. Look it up.
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icequeen
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Post by icequeen »

I looked through the thread, and I did not see The Black Stallion (1941)! Now that one would be great to record!


ETA: The whole series would fit into this dream world! :9: Well, except for the 1983 book.
Ann

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lethargilistic
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Post by lethargilistic »

Bookworm360 wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 7:05 pm
lethargilistic wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 4:19 pm I think copyright, if it exists, should last no longer than 10 years. So that's a lot of books, haha.
Oh yes! 10 would be ideal, but authors do have to make a living. It should be 50 at the most. But 96... :shock:
Well, the long and short of it for me is that, no, authors should not need copyright in order to make a living. And even if they somehow did, why would a government create a branch of law ostensibly in order to create a living for this specific, special group of worker? It would be far better to treat all workers the same by guaranteeing everyone a right to possess the means to live. In practice, by separating artists from other kinds of workers, copyright creates a wedge that separates authors from other kinds of workers and makes general labor reform less likely. But, blah blah blah, copyright scholar, amirite? :p
Mike
Bookworm360
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Post by Bookworm360 »

lethargilistic wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 11:07 pm
Bookworm360 wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 7:05 pm
lethargilistic wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 4:19 pm I think copyright, if it exists, should last no longer than 10 years. So that's a lot of books, haha.
Oh yes! 10 would be ideal, but authors do have to make a living. It should be 50 at the most. But 96... :shock:
Well, the long and short of it for me is that, no, authors should not need copyright in order to make a living. And even if they somehow did, why would a government create a branch of law ostensibly in order to create a living for this specific, special group of worker? It would be far better to treat all workers the same by guaranteeing everyone a right to possess the means to live. In practice, by separating artists from other kinds of workers, copyright creates a wedge that separates authors from other kinds of workers and makes general labor reform less likely. But, blah blah blah, copyright scholar, amirite? :p
No, just a hopeful future author.😁
2 Timothy 1:7. Look it up.
Specializing in Middle-EarthπŸ§β€β™€οΈ, classicsπŸ“–, and artπŸŽ¨πŸ–Œ
TheSheepGal
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Post by TheSheepGal »

Bookworm360 wrote: ↑May 6th, 2021, 5:53 am
lethargilistic wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 11:07 pm
Bookworm360 wrote: ↑May 5th, 2021, 7:05 pm

Oh yes! 10 would be ideal, but authors do have to make a living. It should be 50 at the most. But 96... :shock:
Well, the long and short of it for me is that, no, authors should not need copyright in order to make a living. And even if they somehow did, why would a government create a branch of law ostensibly in order to create a living for this specific, special group of worker? It would be far better to treat all workers the same by guaranteeing everyone a right to possess the means to live. In practice, by separating artists from other kinds of workers, copyright creates a wedge that separates authors from other kinds of workers and makes general labor reform less likely. But, blah blah blah, copyright scholar, amirite? :p
No, just a hopeful future author.😁
Well, there are laws around patenting, which is another form of copyright....
Copyright laws are worse here in Australia. Here the copyright extends for the length of the authors life + 70 years! Seriously...
As a huge thriller lover, I would want 'Where are the Children?' by Mary Higgins Clark to be in the Public Domain, but that was written in 1975 so not even 50 years ago! That's her oldest book but I love many of her newer novels too. [Is 'newer' even a word? :D ]
TheSheepGal
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Post by TheSheepGal »

Bookworm360 wrote: ↑May 1st, 2021, 6:50 am
Adore2113 wrote: ↑April 30th, 2021, 12:57 pm Anne of the Windy Poplars
Amen! I second that! :D
I'll third!!
Though I'm of the opinion that Anne of Green Gables, ... of Avonlea, and ... of the Island were better.
annise
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Post by annise »

I don't think Australian laws are worse that the USA. The USA is now 95years or so after publishing so both have their moments :D

Anne
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Post by EllaTandilyan »

Redwall by Brian Jacques!!! Absolutely Love that book!
Ella
Bookworm360
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Post by Bookworm360 »

annise wrote: ↑July 28th, 2021, 5:55 am I don't think Australian laws are worse that the USA. The USA is now 95years or so after publishing so both have their moments :D

Anne
Aaaaauuuuuugggghhhh!!!!!!!! :shock:
2 Timothy 1:7. Look it up.
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TheSheepGal
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Post by TheSheepGal »

annise wrote: ↑July 28th, 2021, 5:55 am I don't think Australian laws are worse that the USA. The USA is now 95years or so after publishing so both have their moments :D

Anne
I suppose....
maxgal
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Post by maxgal »

Titus Groan (Peake)
Gormenghast (Peake)
Lord of the Flies (Golding)
Blott on the Landscape (Sharpe)
Riotous Assembly (Sharpe)
Indecent Exposure (Sharpe)
The Rainbird Pattern (Canning)
How Awful About Allan (Farrell)
The Phantom Tollbooth (Juster)
"Heading Home" (Campbell)
"The Lottery" (Jackson)
"Down by the Sea Near the Great Big Rock" (Landsdale)
"Over the River" (Miller)
"Parson's Pleasure" (Dahl)
anything by Patricia Highsmith
anything by Ruth Rendell
Louise
"every little breeze..."

Fun Fact: 40% of all statistics are wrong.
ChipDoc
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Post by ChipDoc »

I'd like to read The Earth For Sam (Β©1929) by William Maxwell Reed (d. 1962) which covers the history of the Earth as known at that time.

I read my dad's copy as a child and it really inspired me.

Another good one is The Stars For Sam (Β©1930), also by Reed, which was written just after Edwin Hubble discovered the Red Shift showing the universe was expanding instead of static.

Both were written with kids in mind as an overview of the scientific thought which was current at the time. Not too much longer before they both come into the Public Domain!
-Chip
Retired to Colorado
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.
~Mark Twain
lightcrystal
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Post by lightcrystal »

This is a wacky out there answer. As an 80's kid I read a gazillion fantasy gamebooks. Yes, when you saw that nerd kid in your school library at lunch recess and he or she was throwing two dice and reading a book, that was probably me. Or a clone of me. Especially if they wore glasses. The amount of time that I invested was crazy and scary. There is a page that lists all gamebooks ever written. It's called Demian's Gamebook Web Page.

Now let's address the elephant in the room first. English literature departments despise gamebooks. They don't study them. They are "juvenalia" Despite the huge cultural influence of many gamebook series; Edward Packard of Choose Your Own Adventure fame is still alive and still writes. In fact he is friendly if you say that you remember his books. I did; he has a website. For anyone who wants to be a snob towards gamebooks all I can say is please yourself. You run your Dept of Literature; I would run one very differently.

What in my opinion was the best Gamebook series? To me it was Storytrails by Allen Sharp. I will save you time. Allen Sharp was a pseudonym. You won't get anywhere by Googling it. Unless you encounter a thread that I started once on Stack Exchange about "Who was Allen Sharp". Short answer. He was an American College Professor of English literature. Ironic huh!

That is my answer: I wish that anything from Storytrails by Allan Sharp was in the public domain. Even in a 50 year fantasy we would wait a few year.s Most were published in the early 80's. They were great stories. The language was crisp and crafted. I would jump at the chance to read them! If I chose one it would be The Evil of Mr Happiness, a James Bond style thriller.
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Bookworm360
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Post by Bookworm360 »

Do you do D&D lightcrystal?
2 Timothy 1:7. Look it up.
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lightcrystal
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Post by lightcrystal »

Bookworm360 wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2021, 8:39 am Do you do D&D lightcrystal?
I used to do table top D&D a long time ago. But my main focus was reading books. My biggest D&D achievement was being turned to stone by a gargoyle. That made my participation in the Ravenloft campaign extremely difficult.
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