Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it here?)

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Piotrek
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Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it here?)

Post by Piotrek »

On the surface it all looks very clear-cut and easy: texts published after 1922 by author who died more that 70 years ago? - welcome; texts written before 1923? - please, go to LV.
However, what if:
- there is whole bunch of stories (published both pre- and post 1922) made available at gutenberg.au. Identifying which story was first published in what year is not a problem, but as gutenberg.au says it "do[es] NOT keep any eBooks in compliance with a particular paper edition", which makes me think that it may be safer to read them here, regardless of the date of the first publication. Is it OK, even if a given story is pre-1923?
- e-text of a work by a long-dead author (say 18th century) comes from post-1922 edition (but, not new enough, of course, to interfere with the publisher's copyright).
Hokuspokus
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Hokuspokus »

Piotrek wrote: - there is whole bunch of stories (published both pre- and post 1922) made available at gutenberg.au. Identifying which story was first published in what year is not a problem, but as gutenberg.au says it "do[es] NOT keep any eBooks in compliance with a particular paper edition", which makes me think that it may be safer to read them here, regardless of the date of the first publication. Is it OK, even if a given story is pre-1923?
That depends. If the majority of the stories are pre 1923 and with another online source (gutenberg.au probably wouldn't do for LV) these should go to LV and only the post 1922 here. We can add a link to the LV catalog page for the rest of the recordings. I don't know if LV would add a link to Legamus, I'll ask over there.
If the majority is post 1922, some older pieces wouldn't hurt here.
Piotrek wrote:- e-text of a work by a long-dead author (say 18th century) comes from post-1922 edition (but, not new enough, of course, to interfere with the publisher's copyright).
If the text is pd and not altered, the edition can be from this year and still is pd. There are lots of recordings on LV where the scans came from newer editions. One has to be careful with compilations (Best pet stories, fairy tales and such, these are often abridged or altered) and with very new critical additions. With new editions foreword and footnotes often are not pd.
I know that some LV admins are very critical about newer editions. If the sources is rejected there for this reason and there is no other source available it can be done here.

What stories do you have in mind?
Piotrek
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Piotrek »

I was thinking about weird stories by E.F.Benson collected in this ebook-> http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0605171.txt There are 24 of them, 7 of which are post-1923. I don't know of any other free-licence on-line source for his stories.

Anyway, it's not in my plans for the immediate future.
If the text is pd and not altered, the edition can be from this year and still is pd.
The "not altered" part is crucial here, isn't it? :roll: The problem is, ascertaining whether or not it has been altered, doesn't seem to me to be such an easy task. (see also: http://legamus.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1283#p1283 )
Hokuspokus
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Hokuspokus »

I'd say with 7 out of 24 post 23 it would be OK do do here completely.

re: not altered.
Yes, that's difficult to proof sometimes.
Archive is the best place to look for scans.
Sometimes the book is on google books. Even with the snippet view one can spot check if the text is changed.
Or someone can get the book from a library and spot check.
Piotrek
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Piotrek »

Would an edition published in 1948 be OK to read from at Legamus? The book was actually first published in 1932, and the author died in 1939 so no problem here, only that edition bothers me a bit.
neckertb
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by neckertb »

Is it a paperback? Or do you have an online text?
If it is a paperback, there has to be some text inside about copyright.
The best would be to find the first edition somehow and compare it with what you have, but I at least will need a bit more info to help you.
Nadine
Piotrek
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Piotrek »

Well, I was hoping that the copyright would expire by now :roll: Whatever, I guess that I should check it myself. After all what can you people know about the past Polish copyright acts and their provisions...
I'll try and find something more straighforward that doesn't require checking.
J_N
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by J_N »

may I hijack this thread? :oops: my question fits here nicely :)

http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/6064/1 can I read from this for legamus? the book used by gutenberg is from 1984 (some of the texts are probably from before 1922, though)

:?:
Julia
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Cori
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Cori »

I think we'd want to know the individual copyrights, Julia. So, the book was published in 1984, but ... the author(s) died before 1943?

Gutenberg.de is not as far as I know closely related to Project Gutenberg, and there have been some copyright issues there in the past (though that was them claiming a new copyright!) But if you could find a scanned text somewhere else to provide evidence of public domainness, then in my view, it'd be fine to read from gut.de if that's formatted more nicely.
"The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them." — Samuel Butler
J_N
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by J_N »

it's all the same author who died in 1941 - the problem with Austrian authors is that they are not well known and sources are usually scarce... but I guess I'll have to stick to reading it to myself silently 8-)
Julia
Hokuspokus
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by Hokuspokus »

Welcome Julia! :D

Fritz Grünbaum is pd in EU, no matter when the text was printed.
Looks like this is an anthology of short works. They might have been published in newspapers or performed on stage only. But that makes no difference.
We only have to be careful with forewords, editors notes and such, but as there are non in your book, go for it.
J_N
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Re: Question about text eligibility (Is it OK to read it her

Post by J_N »

Brilliant :) Thank you Hokuspokus - I don't know why PD is such a confusing concept for me :roll:
Julia
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