A.A. BIG BOOK

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GatorDeb

How about books published after 1923 but before 1976?

They are virtually all still in copyright. There are a few exceptions (those which failed to have their copyright "renewed", as used to be necessary in the US prior to around the mid 1960s).

In most of the world, anything written by an author who died in or before 1937 is now out of copyright. That, regretably, is not the case in the US. In most of the world, the public domain "expands" year on year, with each year bringing new authors into the public domain, but no new material will enter the public domain in the US until 2019 at the earlier, largely because of the lobbying efforts of Disney to extend copyright protection which would otherwise have long since expired.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

largely because of the lobbying efforts of Disney to extend copyright protection which would otherwise have long since expired.

I was thinking about the Disney thing the other day. If you create IP while you work for a company, then the company owns the copyright. Is that correct? If so, there is no "death" of the company. Does this many anything copyrighted by a company will be under protection perpetually until the company fails?

So, how would the copyright to Mickey Mouse end if the company still exists?

BOb

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I was thinking about the Disney thing the other day. If you create IP while you work for a company, then the company owns the copyright. Is that correct?

It depends on the terms of your employment contract but, generally speaking, yes, that's true.

If so, there is no "death" of the company. Does this many anything copyrighted by a company will be under protection perpetually until the company fails?

"Corporate" copyright, unlike "personal" copyright, has a fixed term. In the US, the term is currently 95 years from the date of initial publication.

There's a good summary of the current law here:

http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There's a good summary of the current law here:

http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/

WOW! The fact that we need a two page long table to keep this all straight really points to something being wrong. Sort of like the US Tax law.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

WOW! The fact that we need a two page long table to keep this all straight really points to something being wrong.

BOb

so true.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by jnconnolly

Please help me get The Big Book on my kindle.

At this point, aside from clicking the link on the Amazon page telling the publisher you want to read this book on your Kindle, you might want to contact the folks at A.A. directly. Hearing from one of their members might have a bigger impact than the click link (I did click the link while I was there).

Good luck and hope you're doing well.

[JSWolf]

This thread should be in the Kindle section someplace.

[dwig]

If anyone is interested, there is a re-write of the Big Book that has been done with an eye to making the message of the Big Book accessible to those who have more limited reading skills. "Seeds by Andrew M." is written to a roughly 3rd Grade (US) reading level. It's available in ePub, MOBI, and PDF at:

http://seedsbyandrewm.com/

its free, of course.