[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

1) She's not around to ask if changes are acceptable. Would she rather the book was changed, or that someone dropped it from their library and refused to share it with their children because they found some parts unacceptable?

I don't know. All I know is that the book was written and published in one form, and now someone else feels justified in changing it. It's outrageous.

People here seem to go bonkers over a hint of censorship. Isn't it a form of censorship to alter what the author wrote to make it more palatable? Would you think it was hunky-dory for some member of the religious right to tone down Fanny Hill and rewrite it so that Fanny is punished for her "sins"?

Not every author cares (or cared) about preserving their exact published words indefinitely; they'd rather their stories were read & enjoyed, even if they were tweaked a bit to match newer cultural expectations.

And you know this how? It may be true for some, it may not be true for others.

(Do you believe movies made from PD books are wrong, because they edit the text? The movie may be leaving out the scene the author believed to be the most important in the book.)

Going from one medium to another is an entirely different situation. The movie is always going to be someone else's interpretation and distillation of the author's work. We know that going in.

2) Converting a book for personal use doesn't require waiting on the public domain.

Perhaps I misread--I thought the person who was making the changes was involved in publishing a new edition; hence the concern for the sensibilities of young children.