This post summarises the guidelines for posting to this forum section. If we all follow them, it'll make life a lot easier. If you have any comments or suggestions for changes, please feel free to make them.

1. This forum section is for book uploads only, the only exceptions being contributions to the "Sticky" topics at the start of the forum. Any message thread that is not an upload will be moved elsewhere or deleted, as the moderators deem appropriate. The moderators of this forum section are currently Alex Turcic and myself, HarryT.

2. When you upload, you must use a message subject of the form:

Author_surname, Author_firstname (or initials): Book_title. Version. Posting Date

Eg:

Wells, H.G.: The War of the Worlds. v1. 11 Apr 2007

The reason for this is that the thread title is automatically "parsed" to generate the index of eBooks.

3. Please attach your book to the first message in the thread. If you subsequently revise it, edit the first message and re-attach the revised book there, adding a message to the end of the thread to note that you've done so, and saying what the changes are.

4. If you are considering creating a particular eBook, please check before you start whether or not that book has already been uploaded to MobileRead (this can be done by clicking the "E-Books" link on the blue bar near the top of the screen, selecting the "Browse Latest Uploads" option, then selecting the "Search E-Books" link and entering either the title or the author into the search box). If you find that the book has already been uploaded, you are very welcome to upload a new version provided that it "adds" something different to the version already present - this might be a better layout, a new format, significant proof-reading and correction, proper dashes or "curly quotes", for example. If this is the case, when you upload your new version, please add a link to the earlier version (or simply say who the uploader was), and state in the description of your book how it differs from the earlier version.

5. Please respect copyrights, and don't post (or request) anything that's not in the public domain in at least one of the major public domain book collections - eg "Project Gutenberg" (PG) or "Project Gutenberg Australia" - without the clear advance permission of the copyright holder. Any material that clearly infringes copyright will immediately be deleted. Please notify one of the moderators immediately via private message if you believe that an upload does violate copyright.

6. Uploads here should add some notable "value" to a PG (or whatever) original (for example: nice reformatting, artwork, a TOC, footnotes, etc etc). There's really no point in posting here something which which a poster can get from the original source in two minutes.

Thanks!

What is in the "Public Domain?

As you might expect, it's somewhat complicated.

In most of the world, it's pretty straightforward - things enter the public domain (PD) a certain number of years after the death of the author. In most countries that number is 70 years, in a few (eg Australia) it's 50. That means that, for example, all works of authors who died prior to 1937 (as I write this is 2007) are currently PD in Europe; prior to 1957 in Australia, and that advances, year by year, as you would expect it to (eg next year it'll be 1938/1958).

In the US, the rules are rather more complicated, largely due to the political lobbying done by companies like Disney who are desperate that M. Mouse and co should NEVER enter the public domain.

Basically, in the US:

- Anything published prior to 1923 is PD.
- Anything published between 1923 and 1963, with a copyright notice, for which copyright was NOT specifically renewed, is PD.
- Unpublished works: Author's death + 70 years.
- Pretty much everything else: publication date + 95 years (and this date keeps getting extended as the "danger" approaches of anything new entering PD)

The net result of this is that some stuff is in the PD in the US, but not elsewhere (early works of authors who had LONG lives - eg Agatha Christie), and a LOT of stuff is PD outside the US but not in the US (works of authors published after 1923 who died before 1937/1957).

As the years go by, the balance is shifting - what is PD in the US is a static set of works, whereas elsewhere new material is entering the PD every year.

That, at least, is the basics!

I'm glad you didn't go for the complicated explanation, Harry -- just that left me feeling even more confused than I normally do! :dizzy:

It's only complicated in the US; it's pretty straightforward elsewhere.

In the US, stick to books published before 1923, and you're completely "safe". It gets complicated for things published after that - that's when you get into issues of copyright renewals, and all that kind of thing. Prior to 1923, though, and it's guaranteed to be in the public domain (in the US).

This might help to clarify it for you:

http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm

Stupid Disney.

Unfortunately, in the US, "Mickey Mouse" literally is the whole foundation of copyright law :grin:.

Just goes to show what happens when things are run by a Mickey Mouse Outfit. :laugh4:

What's basically happened in the US is that, for things published from 1978 onwards, you have a "life + 70" copyright law, just like most of the rest of the world.

Where it differs from other countries is that, almost entirely due to Disney's political lobbying power (which is considerable), you also have a "publication date + 95 years" protection for things published between 1923 and 1978.

What this means is that nothing new will enter the public domain in the US until the year 2018, and things won't start entering the PD under the normal "life + 70" law that everyone else uses until 2048! I wouldn't even get too excited about the 2018 date. What all observers gloomily agree will happen is that, as that date approaches, Congress will simply extend the "publication + 95 years" protection to something longer.

It really is a pretty shocking state of affairs. Effectively, the public domain has been "sealed off" to new work in the US for the foreseeable future. Things might start working normally again in 2048, but that's a long way off.

1. If I am the copyright owner and would like to upload a creative commons ebook, can I do so here?

2. My ebook is a collection of tasteful erotica stories. A small number are X rated, but most are PG and sometimes R rated.

It's not that big of a deal if I can't; still if you won't allow it, it would be nice to have a section where copyright owners can announce new ebooks and where to download them from.

1. If I am the copyright owner and would like to upload a creative commons ebook, can I do so here?

Certainly.

2. My ebook is a collection of tasteful erotica stories. A small number are X rated, but most are PG and sometimes R rated.

Not a problem. As long as it's legal, and you make it clear what the contents are, that's fine.

It's not that big of a deal if I can't; still if you won't allow it, it would be nice to have a section where copyright owners can announce new ebooks and where to download them from.

Please go ahead!

Great. I'll be uploading soon!

Here's another question.

I'll be hosting the ebook anthology on several sites, although this will probably be the first place I upload it to.

Is there any way to gauge the number of downloads from a particular ebook (for mobipocket vs. lrf, for example).

Is there any way to gauge the number of downloads from a particular ebook (for mobipocket vs. lrf, for example).
Yes, next to each downloadable file icon there is a counter indicating how many times that file has been downloaded. Here is an example (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10153) (of Harry's Sherlock Holmes Omnibus) that shows how many times each version has been downloaded.

We always put the download in the first post of the thread to keep people from having to search the whole thread. When new versions are created they can either be added as it was in this case or the old one can be deleted and the new one added. When it is deleted most times the poster will add a note as to how many times the prior version(s) have been downloaded.

I hope this helps.

Isn't there something wrong in the first post? I reached this forum through 'E-Book Uploads' and 'Other Formats', which is said to include PDF etc. Yet first post says LRF only -- surely that's wrong?

Now corrected - thanks for pointing out the error.

Could you please explain the issue concerning adding text to the ebook that is like this:
This work is in the Canadian public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. It may still be under copyright in some countries. If you live outside Canada, check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.
To report a copyright violation you can contact us here.

or is this being added automatically?

I don't understand exactly what I need to fill in.
I first want to start with converting books from the gutenberg archive (to LRF).
Later on I'd like to convert some books from a friend writer who says he does no longer sell his books, but would not mind them becoming freely available, as long as it doesn't cost him anything.

I'll try to work out the copyright issues with him in person.
But my main concern is about copyright notations on how to publish a book (that can also be found in the gutenberg archive).

There are a number of books that are available as .lit or pdf file but which are not allow to be re-posted, primarily due to Crown copyright.

Is there a forum to post links to these resources so members can download them directly?

I have been reading a book of biographies of Australian Naval Personalities which displays adequately on the Sony Reader and I thought it might be useful to others who are interested to be able to go get it for themselves.

It is available at the Australian Navy site, as are a number of works about New Zealand in World War II at nzetc.org.

There are a number of books that are available as .lit or pdf file but which are not allow to be re-posted, primarily due to Crown copyright.

Is there a forum to post links to these resources so members can download them directly?

Sounds like the 'Deals, Freebies and Resources' (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26)forum would be appropriate.

Posted them over there so people can scoop up some of these files themselves if they are interested.

Your instructions say the Subject Line should be in this format:

Author_surname, Author_firstname (or initials): Book_title. Version. Posting Date

What do you mean by "Version". I see people put Format here (PDF etc.). Is that what is meant by "Version", or is it the version of the book you are uploading? Thanks

"Version" means the version number you give to the particular book you upload. Typically you start with v1, then if you improve or correct something you upload v2, etc. In normal cases you replace v1 with v2, so instead of starting a new thread you rename the old one.

Other information tokens, such as format (when needed), language, whether it's an illustrated version, etc. are usually added to the thread title too.