Public Domain in 2010

[seagull]

The new year is almost upon us, and for us another batch of works authored by those that kicked the bucket some time ago will be in the public domain I believe that if the author died in 1959 then this site, being based in Canada, a Life+50 country, will be able to host those works. Any good authors that died in 1959?

[HarryT]

Raymond Chandler immediately springs to mind.

[seagull]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Raymond Chandler immediately springs to mind.

Funnily enough I'd never heard of him until now, The Big Sleep looks good! And am I right in thinking that Albert Camus who died in January 1960 will not be in the PD until January 1st 2011?

[HarryT]

That's right - it's the start of the year following the 50th/70th anniversary of the author's death, so someone who died in 1960 will enter the public domain on 1st Jan 2011 in "life + 50" countries, and on 1st Jan 2031 in "life + 70".

Raymond Chandler invented Philip Marlowe, who is the definitive "world-weary, hard-boiled detective". His books are true classics of the detective genre.

[kwjones]

From Fantastic Fiction:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/years/1959.htm

Edwin Balmer
Raymond Chandler
G D H Cole
Lester Dent - Doc Savage
Errol Flynn
Kathleen Freeman
Arthur O Friel
Anne Hepple
Laurence Housman
Jim Kjelgaard
E C R Lorac
Adelaide Manning
Michael Poole
Grace S Richmond
Sax Rohmer - Dr. Fu Manchu
Les Savage, Jr.
Aelfrida Tillyard
Boris Vian
Jiří Weil

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Originally Posted by seagull

Funnily enough I'd never heard of him until now, The Big Sleep looks good! And am I right in thinking that Albert Camus who died in January 1960 will not be in the PD until January 1st 2011?

Correct.

A name you don't know (but works you may have heard of) is Lester Dent. He wrote about 75% of all the Doc Savages....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Correct.

A name you don't know (but works you may have heard of) is Lester Dent. He wrote about 75% of all the Doc Savages....

Are you sure that they will enter the public domain? I think they were written as "works for hire", and the copyright was accordingly owned by the publisher, not the author. The current copyright holder of the "Doc Savages" is Conde Nast, who are famously "litigious" with people who infringe their rights.

[kwjones]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are you sure that they will enter the public domain? I think they were written as "works for hire", and the copyright was accordingly owned by the publisher, not the author. The current copyright holder of the "Doc Savages" is Conde Nast, who are famously "litigious" with people who infringe their rights.

Boo! How much longer will I have to wait for legal copies?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kwjones

Boo! How much longer will I have to wait for legal copies?

I'm afraid I don't know - I'm rather hazy about how "work for hire" copyright works. Perhaps somebody else can tell us.

[seagull]

Well just looked it up on Wikipedia and apparently, in the US anyway, work for hire attracts a special copyright duration of 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever comes first. In the EU it's just 70 years after the death of the author or last surviving author(s). If the author is unknown then it's 70 years after publication. If it was never published then 70 years after creation.

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are you sure that they will enter the public domain? I think they were written as "works for hire", and the copyright was accordingly owned by the publisher, not the author. The current copyright holder of the "Doc Savages" is Conde Nast, who are famously "litigious" with people who infringe their rights.

I am not, repeat not a lawyer. However I did post the Canadian copyright law here -

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57184

My layman reading is that the 1933 and 1934 will be legal, but like the Mitchell estate, legalities will not stop Conde Nast from sueing...

[seagull]

Can anyone direct me to a/the thread where the Mitchell estate requested Mobileread to take down Gone with the Wind? I'm of course presuming that it's been discussed and a search of "mitchell" failed to bring it up.

[HarryT]

That sounds hopeful, then. Thanks .

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Originally Posted by seagull

Can anyone direct me to a/the thread where the Mitchell estate requested Mobileread to take down Gone with the Wind? I'm of course presuming that it's been discussed and a search of "mitchell" failed to bring it up.

MR has never had a takedown notice because they have never hosted it...The site owner was not willing to pay the price for litigation, and knew (from every other canadaian site that had hosted it) that they would be sued....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

MR has never had a takedown notice because they have never hosted it...The site owner was not willing to pay the price for litigation, and knew (from every other canadaian site that had hosted it) that they would be sued....

That's right - it's the one book that we've decided it's just not worth the hassle of hosting. If you want it, you can get it from PG Australia.