PRC/MOBI Book Requests (Public Domain books ONLY!)

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by fiver

I noticed that places like mobileread and gutenberg have the full collection of M.R. James' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, and A Thin Ghost and Others - but not the collection A Warning to the Curious, and I don't think that all the remaining stories from The Collected Stories of M.R James are available either. I have not been able to find the e-texts; yet all stories were published prior to the author's death in 1936 and the U.K's life+70 would make the stories available for public domain in 2006 - if I understand copyright rules correctly.

I'm just surprised that I haven't found the e-texts available anywhere online that I've searched. Is anyone working on a mobipocket edition to round out the rest of James' stories or is there a true copyright reason why they aren't available.

FYI: A Warning to the curious, available on this site, is just the short story - not the collection of stories.

Michael

I've managed to piece together whe whole collection, and have now uploaded it.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Patricia

I've managed to piece together whe whole collection, and have now uploaded it.

Patricia.

Excellent timing with Holloween / Christmas Eve hoving into view.

(From Wikipedia: "Many of the tales were penned as Christmas Eve entertainments and read aloud to select gatherings of friends.")

[Patricia]

It was rather fortunate timing.

[SensualPoet]

Here's a special request: T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, in a PD Kindle Edition.

Eliot's Prufrock, The Wasteland and other poems are PD and at Gutenberg. For reason's I don't understand, the marvelous Four Quartets are not. Yet, they are freely available online, and have been so for at least a decade. There is a site posted by an Eliot scholar, Tristan, dedicated to this work -- an ideal source for the work; a simple Google search turns them up.

It would be a treat to have these on a Kindle; my paper copy is somewhat worn as it is a constant companion when I travel.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Here's a special request: T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, in a PD Kindle Edition.

Eliot's Prufrock, The Wasteland and other poems are PD and at Gutenberg. For reason's I don't understand, the marvelous Four Quartets are not. Yet, they are freely available online, and have been so for at least a decade. There is a site posted by an Eliot scholar, Tristan, dedicated to this work -- an ideal source for the work; a simple Google search turns them up.

It would be a treat to have these on a Kindle; my paper copy is somewhat worn as it is a constant companion when I travel.

Can't be done, I'm afraid, SP.
T S Eliot died in 1965.
His pre-1923 works are public domain the the USA. (Hence the PD versions of The Waste Land and other very early works.) But everything after 1923 is copyrighted.
The scholar that you mention is either ignoring copyright, or has got permission from the Eliot estate.
Our main server is in Canada, where works enter the public domain on the 1st January after the 50th anniversary of the author's death. So on 1 January 2016, the Four quartets will be freely available to Canadians.

People who live in countries where it is legal to make electronic copies of books that one owns, might like to use Calibre to make a mobipocket/prc book of such poems. They might be tempted to download a copy from a website, but that is of more dubious legality.

[SensualPoet]

Many thanks for clarifying.

To recap:
works published before Jan 1 1923 in the United States are PD
works published 50 years after the author's death are PD in Canada
all other works are generally copyrighted

But there are other grey areas for works published in magazines and newspapers where the publication no longer exists and copyright cannot be determined? Leading to some more recent works, by more recently deceased authors, in dispute?

And what about translations? The rules apply to author and translator equally, would they not? Unless the original is PD and the translator chooses to make his/her rendition PD as well? Here I am thinking of works by Hermann Hesse, in particular Demian.

Generally, are the Canadian applicable in GB and AU?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

And what about translations? The rules apply to author and translator equally, would they not? Unless the original is PD and the translator chooses to make his/her rendition PD as well? Here I am thinking of works by Hermann Hesse, in particular Demian.

A translation has its own independent copyright, based on the date of death of the translator; hence a translation can enter the public domain either before or after the original.

Generally, are the Canadian applicable in GB and AU?

No. Both Australia and the UK have a "life + 70" copyright law, compared with Canada's "life + 50".

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A translation has its own independent copyright, based on the date of death of the translator; hence a translation can enter the public domain either before or after the original.

Really? I thought the translator was like a co-author in that he/she would only affect copyright if he/she died after the author.

[HarryT]

I understand it to be entirely independent, Jellby, but I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong .

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

And what about translations? The rules apply to author and translator equally, would they not? Unless the original is PD and the translator chooses to make his/her rendition PD as well? Here I am thinking of works by Hermann Hesse, in particular Demian.

Generally, are the Canadian applicable in GB and AU?

I think that you're right about translations, SP. I've been looking for a PD translation of Demian, but there isn't one available. There is a PD translation of Siddhartha, which I converted a while ago.

As for the UK and most of Europe: they have a life of the author plus 70 years rule.
Australia is more complicated. It used to be life+50 years, then moved to life +70 years. But all the works that had entered the public domain under the life+50 years rule, stayed PD.

[SensualPoet]

Again, thanks Patricia, for the jurisdictional clarification.

I "solved" my T.S. Eliot Four Quartets problem. Since I already own (more than one) paper editions I have the ability to type the poetry into a text file (or, perhaps, borrow it from Tristan's website). Magically, that shows up in my Kindle. Cased closed ... till 2016.

[cnwolf]

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary 5th Edition
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary

hi guys, i am looking for these 2 great dictionaries. your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cnwolf

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary 5th Edition
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary

hi guys, i am looking for these 2 great dictionaries. your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

These books are out of copyright and in the public domain, are they?

If not, why are you requesting them here?

[Pagnol]

Originally Posted by Jellby

I'd like to have "Il gattopardo" (The Leopard), by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, in the original Italian. The author died in 1957, and the book was published in 1958, so it should be copyright-free in Canada by now...

Can anyone offer a translation (English, Gernan or French) of the novel 'The Leopard' by Lampedusa? There is already the Italian original on Mobileread, but unfortately I don't speak Italian.

I just noticed that it won't be possible because of the year it was published. The work had to have been instantly translated after being published and the translator had to have died within the following year. Otherwise it would not be free of copyright.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by Pagnol

Can anyone offer a translation (English, Gernan or French) of the novel 'The Leopard' by Lampedusa? There is already the Italian original on Mobileread, but unfortately I don't speak Italian.

I just noticed that it won't be possible because of the year it was published. The work had to have been instantly translated after being published and the translator had to have died within the following year. Otherwise it would not be free of copyright.

Believe me, I've looked, and there isn't an English translation available. I wouldn't wish anyone ill, though do regret that the translator wasn't a bit older, because it is a wonderful book.