submitting a new ebook

[bobcdy]

I've been scanning a few of my old mystery books, and a few are almost ready for reading and I'd like to share them. I wondered about submitting them to MobilRead; the problem is that I don't know anything about the copyrights of these old 1930s mystery stories. Is there any way to check on this, or should I simply submit them (I suppose all I need to do is give a link for the books?) and they can be withdrawn if anyone objects?
Bob

[Nate the great]

If they're from the '30s then you'll need to check if the copyright was renewed in the US. Here is a good place to check:
http://collections.stanford.edu/copy...1A53459D8CD4A9

[HarryT]

Please do NOT simply post them without rigorously checking their copyright status first. It is your responsibility to ensure that the books that you post are either in the public domain, or are posted with the permission of the author.

If the author died in 1958 or earlier, the books will be in the public domain in Canada, and can safely be posted to our Canadian server.

Thanks,

[HarryT]

Further to my previous post: the best single source of information about books and authors that I know of is:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

If you look up an author there, you should be able to find their dates of birth and death, unless they are really obscure.

Remember, 1958 or before is the important date. Before that, and we can host the book on our Canadian server.

[bobcdy]

Thanks for the info, HarryT and Nate - I'll check the two sites
http://collections.stanford.edu/copy...1A53459D8CD4A9 and
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk
Yesterday I checked stanford and found that two are not on the copyright list but that one other one was still in copyright (renewed).
Bob

[bobcdy]

This seems pretty simple except for reprints or copyright renewals - suppose an author died in 1950 but his books have been reprinted. For example I have a reprint book, originally published in 1927 but reprinted in 1988. On the back of the title page, it states "All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced...without the prior permissions of ..."

Does this mean that the copyright has been extended and the book cannot legally be made into an ebook and distributed from Canada? If so, then any old book that has been reprinted might well still be protected and it will be difficult to know its status without contacting the reprint publisher (and that might be difficult to do because the reprint publisher might no longer exist because it went out of business or might have been bought by another publishing company).
Bob

[Patricia]

If the author died in 1950 then the Canadian copyright has expired and you may safely upload it.
I have uploaded 1930s detective stories whose copyright has expired and which have been reprinted a lot. Some are still in print.
HarryT has uploaded all of Dickens, and he is still regularly reprinted.

[bobcdy]

Thanks Patricia,
I have a book I like to submit: 'Death Points a Finger' by Will Levinerew (pseu. of William Levine) who was born in 1881 but whose death date I can't verify. His books are not listed on Stanford's Copyright Renewal Database, but I still don't know if it's ok to submit this book because his death date is uncertain. What is the general opinion of submitting such a book?

Also, I'm still not sure about how to upload an ebook. I don't see any directions about how to do this; also HarryT suggested Proj. Gutenberg not MobilRead- does this mean that submissions are not welcome from new registrants?

Bob

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by bobcdy

Thanks Patricia,
I have a book I like to submit: 'Death Points a Finger' by Will Levinerew (pseu. of William Levine) who was born in 1881 but whose death date I can't verify. His books are not listed on Stanford's Copyright Renewal Database, but I still don't know if it's ok to submit this book because his death date is uncertain. What is the general opinion of submitting such a book?

Also, I'm still not sure about how to upload an ebook. I don't see any directions about how to do this; also HarryT suggested Proj. Gutenberg not MobilRead- does this mean that submissions are not welcome from new registrants?

Bob

Ebooks are welcome uploads from all registrants, new or old. To upload a eBook it is the same as an attachment. Just pick the eBook forum in the correct format and start a new thread. All of the eBook sections have instructions at the top. His pseudo name was Will Levinrew. (using that spelling may help google) the 2nd edition was published in 1945.

Dale

[bobcdy]

Dale,
Thanks for the fast reply. I used the correct spelling of Levinrew for my google search but got it wrong in my post. I'll post the book soon both in mobi and html format, unless I see a post saying it should not be posted because of uncertain death date.
Bob

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by bobcdy

I have a book I like to submit: 'Death Points a Finger' by Will Levinerew (pseu. of William Levine) who was born in 1881 but whose death date I can't verify.

A pulp magazine with a story by William Levinrew was republished in 2008 by Girasol Collectables, Mississauga, Ontario, claiming "with full permission of the copyright holders." It might be worth contacting them for more info.

You certainly shouldn't upload to Mobileread unless you're sure the author died in 1958 or before. Well, unless it's out of copyright in the US, in which case ask the mods about the US server.

Please do persevere - uploads from members are one of the highlights of Mobileread.

[Patricia]

I have some bad news about the copyright.

I did some Googling, and the Browne Popular Culture Library has a box of correspondence betweem Margaret Millar and Will Levinrew for the period 1911 - 1976. This rather suggests that Mr Levinrew was alive in 1976 (given that authors tend to stop writing when dead). If so, all his works are still in copyright everywhere.

Therefore, it would not be a good idea to upload the book here. This is a pity because it sounds interesting. We shall just have to wait till some time after 1 January 2027.

Here's the link:
http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/pcl/page39334.html
Go towards the bottom of the page. The correspondence is the first item in box 4.

[bobcdy]

Patricia,
Thanks for the info; you're certainly right, it would be difficult for a writer to correspond from beyond with a still-living author. Strong evidence as to the copyright still being in force.
Bob

[bobcdy]

I've been researching copyrights with Google and found a site http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm
and I'm confused about what is still copyright protected in the USA. According the cornell site, works first published in the USA in the period 1923 to 1963 with copyright notice but with no renewal are no longer copyrighted. If true, then the 70 year rule in the USA (or the 50 year Canadian rule) does not apply to Levinrew's books because according to the Stanford copyright database, none of his books were renewed.

Am I missing something that should be obvious?
Bob

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by bobcdy

I've been researching copyrights with Google and found a site http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm
and I'm confused about what is still copyright protected in the USA. According the cornell site, works first published in the USA in the period 1923 to 1963 with copyright notice but with no renewal are no longer copyrighted. If true, then the 70 year rule in the USA (or the 50 year Canadian rule) does not apply to Levinrew's books because according to the Stanford copyright database, none of his books were renewed.

Am I missing something that should be obvious?
Bob

You have your information correct. If the work was published before 1964 and the copyright was not renewed then it is in the public domain in the US.