Librivox recordings -reader withdraws public domain consent?

ApplePie · Post by **ApplePie** » March 30th, 2017, 12:07 am

Hi,
I've been a librivox fan for years and I put some public domain stories read by librivox readers and downloaded from librivox on my website online so anyone can listen to the recordings for free (the stories say they are librivox recordings). An interesting thing happened. I received a message which I presume is from the reader of the story who donated their time to read the story for librivox. The story is in the public domain and and is available for anyone to download from librivox. This is an edited version of the message I received and the only thing I have done is remove the name of the text and the author and I added the word "LIBRIVOX" in capitals as the writer conveniently left out the fact he had read the story for librivox (the story audio says he is reading it for librivox).

Message I received...
A few years ago, you had posted a video of my (LIBRIVOX) audiobook narration of (Name of text) by (author of text). Thank you very much for the support…This performance however, is about to be released commercially by another company who now owns the rights to the performance and will be collecting royalties from the sales…I am writing this letter to ask that you kindly please remove this video from (www), so that it is not free to the public. Please let me know if you have any questions and all the very best. Thank you very much.

My view of the issue...
In my view anyone who records a story for librivox donates their time and effort and it says on the librivox site that
all stories/books are in the public domain (USA). So if the reader then wants to sell copies of their reading of the book which they believe is commercially saleable, then they can do so but the reading they did for librivox would still stand as being available for free since this is what they originally agreed to. I also don't believe once a work is released into the public domain with the consent of the reader, that the reader than then reverse their consent ... firstly, who knows how many ways the recording may have been uses and secondly, such reversals would make a bad mess of the whole public domain system. Can anyone give me an idea of how to answer the message I received that would be factual and correct?
ie is my assumption correct that once a librivox reader reads a text for librivox they have donated that text to the public domain and that is not reversable?

Sorry if any of the above confuses anyone, but I hope you can understand the issue.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Post by **Availle** » March 30th, 2017, 12:28 am

Oh, wonderful copyright...

Disclaimer: I"m not a copyright lawyer!

The view you take - once pd, always pd - is one I would support as well. Just as you say, it's been out there for years, hundreds of people will have downloaded it, dozens more will have put it up somewhere else or maybe (because it's legally allowed) even have sold it for profit.

If the reader has sold the exact same recording to another company for profit, well, that's his right as well (because public domain allows this), but I don't think he has the possibiltiy (or even the right) to withdraw it from the public domain again.

That's my view on the issue, as I said, I'm not a copyright lawyer.
And I wouldn't know how to deal with the reader either, but they are just putting out a request, not any kind of claim or threat of legal action. So you are probably fine with leaving the video as and where it is.

Post by **annise** » March 30th, 2017, 1:42 am

Could you drop an email to info@librivox.org with the identifying info so we can know the details ?

Anne

plaidsicle · Post by **plaidsicle** » March 30th, 2017, 5:28 am

wow, interesting. this is something I've idly pondered a little bit, too. *exactly* how legally binding is the disclaimer? has it ever been tested against someone who really did change their mind about donating their reading?

Post by **annise** » March 30th, 2017, 6:17 am

There's not much point in having a discussion about the likely result of a legal case, the disclaimer is a statement by the reader that they willingly donate their part of the recording to the public domain and is in every file, it would be a hard case to win I would have thought.

Anne

ApplePie · Post by **ApplePie** » March 30th, 2017, 7:17 am

Hi,
Thanks for the response and I'll email the information (reader, title etc) to info@librivox.org for your records.
Please let Carolin know this since she pm'd me and I can't reply because I'm newly joined so I don't have
access to reply by pm yet.

Carolin · Post by **Carolin** » March 30th, 2017, 7:21 am

info@ is even better

thank you!

JorWat · Post by **JorWat** » April 25th, 2017, 3:00 am

What I'm wondering is if this reader also has tried to get Archive.org to remove their copy, because I'm quite sure that's the main place people would get the audiobook, not some other independent website.