01-04-2010, 03:09 AM | #61 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
|
|
01-04-2010, 04:30 AM | #62 |
"Assume a can opener..."
Posts: 755
Karma: 1942109
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Local Cluster
Device: iLiad v2, DR1000
|
Nate, you forgot to link this (somewhat longer than article-length) book by James Boyle: The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind.. It really is a must read if you want an overview of the entire US IP rights landscape.
|
Advert | |
|
01-04-2010, 09:21 AM | #63 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,247
Karma: 35000000
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Pocketbook
|
Quote:
Some days I'm just incoherent....(And those are the good days!) What I meant to say was that if you see a e-book text of a work that is now in the public domain, the e-text only exists because somebody went to the effort to convert the text from paper to electronic form. For expired copyright works, that means people like us. We do it not only for ourselves, but for the good of the public. And anybody who feels that a text that has fallen into the public domain needs to be made into an e-book, should convert it. You would be "paying forward" for all those e-texts you have already enjoyed... |
|
01-04-2010, 10:24 AM | #64 |
Member
Posts: 24
Karma: 154
Join Date: Jul 2009
Device: Sony Reader
|
|
01-04-2010, 11:21 AM | #65 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
|
Advert | |
|
01-04-2010, 11:53 AM | #66 |
frumious Bandersnatch
Posts: 7,515
Karma: 18512745
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spaniard in Sweden
Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura
|
Hmm... I wonder...
What happens if I (in Europe) buy from Fictionwise (in USA) a book that's PD in USA but not in Europe (say, one of Wodehouse's early works)? Shouldn't the book has geographic restrictions then? Isn't it a bit paradoxical that for some aspects (copyright) it's the seller location that matters but for others (distribution rights, taxes) it's the purchaser location? Or am I committing a crime by "legally" buying this book? |
01-04-2010, 12:08 PM | #67 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
Silly, isn't it? |
|
01-04-2010, 12:48 PM | #68 | |
New York Editor
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
|
Quote:
For that matter, MR maintains a Canadian (life+50) server, and a US server for stuff PD in the US. There are MR users who are probably breaking the law in their location by downloading some of the MR editions, but I very much doubt that stops anyone... PG Australia has a whole section of books that are PD in Oz but not necessarily elsewhere, with the usual disclaimers. I suspect a glance at their http logs would show precious few of those downloads coming from within Australia. Ultimately, this seems to be a "Whose ox gets gored?" issue on a practical level. For example, even though Margaret Mitchell's _Gone with the Wind_ should be PD, her estate is assiduous about going after folks offering electronic versions. Yes, you could probably beat that in court, but who has the time and money and desire to do that? No one thus far, which is why Mitchell's estate is effective in their efforts. For the vast majority of PD here but not there editions, I suspect no one really cares, as they don't see monetary value in the properties. ______ Dennis |
|
01-04-2010, 12:57 PM | #69 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Quote:
Distribution is a violation of copyright law; reception isn't. If a book sold at a store and is ruled to be infringing on copyright, the buyers aren't liable. |
|
01-04-2010, 01:05 PM | #70 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Hmmm - I'm not at all sure that's right. Fictionwise can know what they can legally sell; they can't be expected to know what is or what is not in the public domain in every other country in the world; that's entirely unreasonable - surely it has to be the buyer's responsibility?
|
01-04-2010, 01:13 PM | #71 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Quote:
That digital content sales are considered to happen in the country of the buyer is ridiculous--but because of that, FW should be turning *off* sales to any country they don't know they have the right to sell in. |
|
01-04-2010, 01:17 PM | #72 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,454
Karma: 37243
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Europe
Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4
|
I find all this enormously confusing.
Why should any specific work be public domain in one country and not in another? It was most probably only created in one country, shouldn't the laws of this country apply? Say I am in Greece. I realize that the greek translation of a book has a different copyright than the original and that is fair. But if I want to read the original of say, an australian author, why should the greek copyright laws apply, and not the australian ones? It's a book written by a non-greek, in a different country, in a different language, most probably not even available in greece at all. Is there some underlying logic in all this that I just can't see? And as ggareau suggested, if I travel to canada and create a graphic novel based on a book that is public domain there, I have the right to do it. Then I make it freely available on the internet, on a canadian server. Anyone not currently in canada who goes to my website and reads it is breaking the law? Even me, if I travel away from canada again, can I not read my own graphic novel? Isn't it absurd? Or is it just me? |
01-04-2010, 01:27 PM | #73 | ||
New York Editor
Posts: 6,384
Karma: 16540415
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
|
Quote:
Quote:
For stuff that is PD here but not there, how much should Fictionwise (or Barnes and Noble, who owns them) really care? People will care if they think there is money to be made or lost. I really don't see anyone going through the trouble of going after Fictionwise because a PD title they offer is not PD in some locations. The cost of doing so would far exceed any potential benefit. ______ Dennis |
||
01-04-2010, 01:31 PM | #74 | ||
frumious Bandersnatch
Posts: 7,515
Karma: 18512745
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spaniard in Sweden
Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura
|
Quote:
Quote:
But what interests me here is the difference between copyright/PD and geographic restrictions. They try to "sell" us geographic restrictions as something they must do to stay legal, yet they completely ignore copyright law differences... |
||
01-04-2010, 01:36 PM | #75 |
frumious Bandersnatch
Posts: 7,515
Karma: 18512745
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spaniard in Sweden
Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura
|
Why not? Wodehouse's current copyright holder/publisher might care. Maybe they're not all-powerful corporations, but some time they'll find someone that is.
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Public Domain in 2010 | seagull | Reading Recommendations | 16 | 01-01-2010 12:31 PM |
Public Domain Authors | pgd1 | News | 12 | 08-04-2009 10:17 AM |
Which authors will soon be public domain? | Daithi | News | 61 | 07-27-2009 05:23 AM |
Google Public Domain | Vauh | E-Books | 4 | 04-13-2009 10:32 AM |
Public Domain Day and no PD books until 2026 | AprilHare | News | 3 | 01-31-2009 04:54 AM |