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Hello all!

Posted: Sat 5. Oct 2019, 16:36
by RobMarland
Hi all,

Rob Marland here, over from Librivox. Right now I live in Switzerland but I’m from the UK.

There are a few things I would like to record here. As I am a Wilde fan, the top of my list is the full text of De Profundis. Only the abridged 1912 version is available on LV.

The unabridged manuscript is available at the British Library and marked as PD https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/manu ... scar-wilde

However, before I get started, I think I need to clarify what is acceptable for Legamus. That is, on LV it is very clear: the unabridged De Profundis is not PD in the USA until 2057, so it can’t be read for them. The unabridged De Profundis is PD in the UK, Germany, Ireland, and probably in other European countries too, but it isn’t a clear “death +70” situation.

Relevant Wikipedia section: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Prof ... #Copyright

So I am wondering what the relevant criteria are for Legamus. Does it matter under which country Legamus is registered and where the forum/files are hosted?

I fully appreciate that this might be too complicated. I thought I would check in, though, because the idea of waiting til 2057 isn’t especially appealing!

I fully appreciate that this might be too complicated

Re: Hello all!

Posted: Thu 10. Oct 2019, 00:48
by Viktor
Hello Rob,

welcome to Legamus. First of all sorry that your first post took some time to get moderated. We got a lot of spam the last weeks, I'm glad I caught your post at all ;)

If Wikipedia is right, then De Profondis should be OK. Legamus resources are all hosted in France.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Profundis_%28letter%29#Copyright wrote: Substantially, the text is in the public domain in the European Union (at the very least in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany), but is in copyright in the United States and Australia.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_France#Duration_of_proprietary_rights wrote: Posthumous works are copyrighted 25 years from the year of publication.
If someone else has an opinion on this, please chime in!

Of course we are talking about the original text by Oscar Wilde here, with no other authors/editors.

Re: Hello all!

Posted: Sat 19. Oct 2019, 20:57
by Newgatenovelist
Hello Rob,

First, welcome! It's nice to see another member on these boards.

I'm sorry that I can't advise you about copyright in this particular case, but I hope that you can find someone who is more up to speed on the intricacies of manuscript PD dates.

It's an excellent thing that you are trying to promote some of Wilde's less well known works and that you care about differences between editions. What I am going to suggest is a very tentative thing, but if you do record this (or some other writing not widely available), have you considered creating a Soundcloud account dedicated just to that book/audiobook in order to promote that specific corner of Wilde's oeuvre? In this hypothetical case, it would be a 'Manuscript De Profundis' channel, as it were. The Soundcloud address on their website is in Berlin, and I assume that their servers are in Germany. I hope that makes sense! If it appeals, well and good, and if not, no worries.

In the meantime, keep doing what you're doing to spread Wilde's words far and wide!
Erin

Re: Hello all!

Posted: Sun 27. Oct 2019, 11:24
by RobMarland
Thanks, Erin and Viktor, for your input.

Yes, I mean the original manuscript -- which is a little difficult to read given Wilde's spidery handwriting, but not impossible.

I am making a wishlist of Wilde-related projects and marking which ones are PD here in Europe but not the US, and may start with something that is a a little less demanding!