Some books entering the public domain in the USA in 2023

[alanmapstone]

Would I be right in thinking Meet Mr Mulliner (for instance) would not be available for an English narrator until 70 years after PG Wodehouse died in 1975, that's to say 2045?

Unfortunately Yes
As Wodehouse was British and his books were published in UK the full copyright period will apply here

Thanks for responding. So it appears no British book of any standing (whatever that means ) will ever be read by a Brit, first, on Librivox.

Not necessarily. Books by British or Irish authors who died before 1953 and which were published in the 30s and 40s are PD here but not in US (E.G. Finnigans Wake by James Joyce or anything by Virginia Woolf). Unfortunately as LV servers are in the US they can only do books which are PD there. There is an organisation called Legamus which is European based and for which such works can be recorded.

[gweeks]

The Small Bachelor by P.G. Wodehouse
https://archive.org/details/smallbachelor0000unse/mode/2up

This looks to be a complete readable copy. I'll be running this at pgdp.net.

Greg

[afinevoice]

That’s interesting. It’s quite complicated this PD thing I find. Is there anywhere on librivox that it’s all spelt out? A Dummies version?! I’ll have a look at Legamus, thanks.

[flavo5000]

That’s interesting. It’s quite complicated this PD thing I find. Is there anywhere on librivox that it’s all spelt out? A Dummies version?! I’ll have a look at Legamus, thanks.

Basically if you live in the UK, there are two questions you ask first if you want to read it for Librivox:
1. Is it PD in the UK? That's pretty straightforward from what I gather. Author's death + 70 years.
2. Is it PD in the US? This one is more complicated. The most blanket view to take is anything published after 95 years (1927 or earlier). There are exceptions post-1927 where until 1964, for a copyright to be maintained it was required to be renewed at the US Copyright Office and if it wasn't, it went into the public domain. This is why you see a bunch of sci-fi from the 40s through 60s on project gutenberg. They didn't have their copyright renewed. It actually gets even more complicated than that when you look at if the author was not an American citizen at the time of the publication. In the '90s, the US signed some annoying trade agreement (Uruguay Round Agreement Act) that basically reverted copyright for non-native authors to the country they originated from, even if the work was already in the public domain. This is why you DON'T see non-American sci-fi from the '40s through '60s on Gutenberg, and this is why films like Fritz Lang's Metropolis used to be in the public domain in the US and then went back under copyright (until this year when it's FINALLY back in the public domain again).

[zachh]

The Small Bachelor by P.G. Wodehouse
https://archive.org/details/smallbachelor0000unse/mode/2up

This looks to be a complete readable copy. I'll be running this at pgdp.net.

Greg

That's great. I had looked at Hathitrust and Google Books, but I never thought of Archive. Thank you for all the work you do getting things processed at Project Gutenberg.

[prosfilaes]

Thanks for responding. So it appears no British book of any standing (whatever that means ) will ever be read by a Brit, first, on Librivox.

For one example, Americans will have the first chance at the Hobbit (in 2033), then all of Tolkien's works will be PD in the UK in 2044, then the Lord of the Rings will be PD in the US in 2049.

[KevinS]

That’s interesting. It’s quite complicated this PD thing I find. Is there anywhere on librivox that it’s all spelt out? A Dummies version?! I’ll have a look at Legamus, thanks.

It's very complicated, especially when you consider that the King James Bible belongs to the Crown and that 'Peter Pan" retains its copyright in perpetuity.

In the U.S., federal documents, for the most part, are in the public domain, but that does not apply to documents from the various States.

Etc., etc.

[Mozartjr]

Hooray! The first Freddy the Pig book is in Public Domain now! "To and Again" also known as "Freddy Goes to Florida." I think I'll start that as a solo.

[annise]

Only federal documents not provided by private contractors .....

The real point is - by depending on PG we have a source with the capability to investigate all the PD traps - and there are still many books there that have not audiobooks available and will probably never be recorded by commercial concerns.

So instead of continual attempts to push the boundaries think of it as " If a glass has 50% water in it is it "Half Full" or "Half Empty"

And now I will climb down from my soap box ...

Anne

[KevinS]

Only federal documents not provided by private contractors .....

The real point is - by depending on PG we have a source with the capability to investigate all the PD traps - and there are still many books there that have not audiobooks available and will probably never be recorded by commercial concerns.

So instead of continual attempts to push the boundaries think of it as " If a glass has 50% water in it is it "Half Full" or "Half Empty"

And now I will climb down from my soap box ...

Anne

Not a soap box. Good points.

[alanmapstone]

That’s interesting. It’s quite complicated this PD thing I find. Is there anywhere on librivox that it’s all spelt out? A Dummies version?! I’ll have a look at Legamus, thanks.

If you think it is complicated so far wait till you start on the "rule of shorter term" (which can make some work by US authors available to non-US readers earlier). I have never found anyone on LV who fully understands it, you may need to ask a copyright lawyer for an interpretation. I think I know how it sometimes affects UK reader, like you and I, but I am not always sure. One of our admins Sonia (kitty) is fairly well up on this and can give advice.

[redrun]

I just posted the scans for these to archive.org.
-snip-
The House On The Cliff by Dixon, Franklin W.
https://archive.org/details/the-house-on-the-cliff_202301
-snip-
These will eventually make through pgdp.net to post to Project Gutenberg.

If it saves you any duplication of effort at PG, it looks like The House on the Cliff (1927 edition) now has a text version on Faded Page:
https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20220153

And it looks like somebody's scanned The Tower Treasure's 1927 edition as well! Just that much less needing done.
https://archive.org/details/towertreasure0000fran_q4d5/page/n8/mode/1up

If you have any interest in the dramatic readings we're starting, here's The House on the Cliff: viewtopic.php?t=96031

[afinevoice]

Unfortunately Yes
As Wodehouse was British and his books were published in UK the full copyright period will apply here

Thanks for responding. So it appears no British book of any standing (whatever that means ) will ever be read by a Brit, first, on Librivox.

Not necessarily. Books by British or Irish authors who died before 1953 and which were published in the 30s and 40s are PD here but not in US (E.G. Finnigans Wake by James Joyce or anything by Virginia Woolf). Unfortunately as LV servers are in the US they can only do books which are PD there. There is an organisation called Legamus which is European based and for which such works can be recorded.

Thanks for mention of Legamus. I've signed up and am just waiting for my 1st project to be approved. They don't seem to be as 'active' as Librivox, so far

[progressingamerica]

Hey admins,

When books enter the public domain annually (1926/2022, 1927/2023, 1928/2024) if Hathitrust.org "forgets" to update because the year moves forward but it still says "protected by copyright law", can Librivox confidently go by the copyright date itself and disregard Hathi?

Just curious how this would be handled. Here is Gangs of New York (mentioned in the original post)

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001134261
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008590856
"Protected by copyright law."

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2023/

[TriciaG]

Hey admins,

When books enter the public domain annually (1926/2022, 1927/2023, 1928/2024) if Hathitrust.org "forgets" to update because the year moves forward but it still says "protected by copyright law", can Librivox confidently go by the copyright date itself and disregard Hathi?

Just curious how this would be handled. Here is Gangs of New York (mentioned in the original post)

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001134261
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008590856
"Protected by copyright law."

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2023/

The original 1927 publication is PD. The link you have is a 1928 edition - which I would assume is different.