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zipzip · 08-15-2009, 11:52 PM

I've been wondering about this too, and I don't think it's as simple as it appears.

Here's the thing: Starting in 1959, the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were rewritten. Not just edited, actually rewritten, by different ghost writers than the originals. The U.S. Copyright Office's website shows no earlier date than 1959 for the first in the Nancy Drew series, "The Secret of the Old Clock," or the first Hardy Boys book, "The Tower Treasure." However, these are new works by a different author, retaining only the plot and characters of the 1930 edition. Both say, "New Matter: revision."

So the question is, are these pre-1959 versions of the books out of copyright?

08-15-2009, 11:52 PM	#14
zipzip Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 2.0	I've been wondering about this too, and I don't think it's as simple as it appears. Here's the thing: Starting in 1959, the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were rewritten. Not just edited, actually rewritten, by different ghost writers than the originals. The U.S. Copyright Office's website shows no earlier date than 1959 for the first in the Nancy Drew series, "The Secret of the Old Clock," or the first Hardy Boys book, "The Tower Treasure." However, these are new works by a different author, retaining only the plot and characters of the 1930 edition. Both say, "New Matter: revision." So the question is, are these pre-1959 versions of the books out of copyright?