The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Renate

Then there is all the stuff that isn't PD because there is no author/agent/heir to be found.

Of course, we could have 100 years from date of release for that sort of content.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Renate

Then there is all the stuff that isn't PD because there is no author/agent/heir to be found.

PD happens no matter what; it's those books that aren't available before going PD that have this issue.

Which of course isn't saying that you'll be able to find an electronic copy once it enters the PD; someone has to have a copy, scan it and upload it somewhere it's accessible.

Pretty much the two ends of the literary spectrum....

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Of course, we could have 100 years from date of release for that sort of content.

Or 50, or zero. If a publisher or author doesn't object. Copyright violation isn't the same as theft. Suspicion of theft results in criminal prosecution. In most countries the copyright owner, or the company assigned publishing rights, has to sue. They have to prove they have the copyright and that copies have been distributed without permission. They have to mount a civil case (sue) in most countries. Then for compensation they have to prove the losses. Hard if they aren't selling it. So compensation on winning a copyright case can vary from 0 to 100,000s of times the tariff in a conviction for theft of a BluRay disk. That's why in Ireland the cable and satellite Pay TV operators don't want the Garda to prosecute (Theft of Service is maybe maximum of €6000 and/or 6 months prison). They take a civil case and may recover €100,000. The State gets the money in a criminal case apart from value of physical stolen goods compensation.

There is software (abandonware) distributed free because the companies are gone. The other extreme is trolls like SCO (who have/had no connection to the original Santa Cruse Organisation) trying to claim they have the copyright on stuff that's "free". Neither BSD or Linux are actually AT&T / Bell UNIX and even the original SCO nor Microsoft (who amazingly did sell Xenix) ever had copyright to all of Xenix.

It copyrights or trademark or registered designs (USA= design patents) is not claimed/enforced, then the material becomes public domain. Actual patents can expire quicker. There is only copyright on "Trade secrets" and hard to enforce if it's secret. See Marmite, HP sauce, Coca-Cola, KFC seasoning.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

There's a joke about copyright terms being life + the number of years since Walt Disney's death.

I came across an anecdote in a book I’m reading (Five Came Back) which seems apropos. During WWII, the army planned a series of animated shorts to explain army life to new recruits. Warners and Disney put in bids. Disney insisted on retaining ownership of the images and characters. Who’d have thought it? Warners got the bid.

I can’t help thinking that it was to the ultimate benefit of the intended audience, as the shorts were a product of the combined talents of Theodor Geisel, Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc.

[ownedbycats]

Spotting a typo on the first page is probably not a good sign.

[JSWolf]

Why is it most historical fiction is set during WWII?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it most historical fiction is set during WWII?

It's not.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's not.

Most eBooks I see are set in or around WWII.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it most historical fiction is set during WWII?

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's not.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Most eBooks I see are set in or around WWII.

Than why didn't you write:
"Why is it most historical fiction ebooks that I see are set during WWII?"

[DNSB]

I don't see that around here. Going through the last 13 historical fiction books I've read, 3 are set in the 19th century, 2 are set in the early 1900's, 1 is set during WWW I. 4 are set in the 1920-1939 era, 1 is set during WWW II and the last two are set in the 1960s.

This is going by the common definition of historical fiction as being written at least 50 years after the era where the story is set. This makes my re-reads of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque published in 1929 or Run Silent, Run Deep is a novel by Edward L. Beach Jr. published in 1955 ineligible to be counted as historical fiction. OTOH,
Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles by Bernard Cornwell published in 2016 does qualify.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Most eBooks I see are set in or around WWII.

Perhaps your statement says more about your limited genre choices in ebooks than it does about the breadth of historical fiction?

And yet once again, you seem to feel that your opinion is to be conflated with fact.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DNSB

OTOH, Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles by Bernard Cornwell published in 2016 does qualify.

No, it doesn’t. As the name indicates, it’s history, not historical fiction. As I can confirm, since I’ve read it.

Cornwell did write a lot of historical fiction set during the Napoleonic Wars, his Sharpe series.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by issybird

Cornwell did write a lot of historical fiction set during the Napoleonic Wars, his Sharpe series.

Here's forty shillings on the drum...

[Martinoptic]

Over the hills and far away…..

What annoys me is when books get altered because they don’t fit with modern thinking. Enid Blyton comes to mind - Mrs Kirrin’s original forename was changed to Franny for instance. In other books, imperial measures have been metricised so 3 feet or a yard becomes a metre. Older books were of their time and so long as the reader is aware, why should publishers change them for a “modern” audience?

Edit: It is the dumbing down that really get to me. I’m turning into a grumpy old man…

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

Over the hills and far away…..

What annoys me is when books get altered because they don’t fit with modern thinking. Enid Blyton comes to mind - Mrs Kirrin’s original forename was changed to Franny for instance. In other books, imperial measures have been metricised so 3 feet or a yard becomes a metre. Older books were of their time and so long as the reader is aware, why should publishers change them for a “modern” audience?

Edit: It is the dumbing down that really get to me. I’m turning into a grumpy old man…

Roald Dahl & Agatha Christie come to mind as being dumbed down.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Most eBooks I see are set in or around WWII.

Looking at Goodreads Best Historical Fiction list, out of the top 25, numbers 4, 19 and 20 are the only WWII-related books. And that is giving you The Shadow of the Wind which is set in 1945, but actually deals with the Spanish civil war.