[English] Persuasion

[scout]

It occurred to me that someone with immaculate persuasion capabilities (definitely not me) might go loose on some (or even all) of the British narrators presently active on LibriVox, with a view to coaxing them over to Legamus. When I see works by English authors, eg Bennett, Dickens, Doyle, Hanshew etc, being read so immaculately by English narrators on LibriVox, I begin to wonder whether there ever will be a high degree of activity in Legamus. Actually a worse situation IMHO is the many prominent British works being read by non-British narrators when there are more than sufficient capable British narrators to do the job (over time).

Food for thought and comment?

scout

PS. I haven't any personal objections to foreigners if anyone should let their thoughts wander in that direction. And, unfortunately, I am totally unsuited to narrate myself (but will readily help out in other ways if needed).

[Cori]

I don't quite understand this, scout ... the aim of Legamus is to get Life + 70 public domain books recorded, as many times as people want to do them. What does specifically recruiting Brits (and there's quite a few of us here, relatively) have to do with it?

I agree that it's likely that there'll be less activity at Legamus than LibriVox, but there are various reasons for that, including that there's a smaller range of books available to us (published by adequately dead authors after 1922), and a smaller pool of readers when you can't include any US-based folk. If a chosen book is eligible for LibriVox, then it makes more sense to record it there than here -- or at least, that's how I'm personally operating.

[Viktor]

Hello scout,

I think we have different ideas about this web site. When one approaches British or other LibriVox readers, the wording is very important. I'd neither want to "persuade" nor to "coax" someone into Legamus; all I want is to raise awareness that _if_ a reader in a life+70 country wishes to record a work that is PD in life+70 but not in the US, he can do it over here. That's all

This is no competition, but a complement to LibriVox.

As for British readers, well, if there is already a version by a non-British reader, no one stops a British reader from doing a second version if he wishes. This is all about what readers want to do. If someone wants to record a book, he is welcome. No other planning exists. And if there are plenty of non-British readers (Australians? Indians? Irish?) who record English books, well, I'm happy about that and wouldn't consider it at all a "worse situation". The more the merrier!

And, unfortunately, I am totally unsuited to narrate myself

Now, are you absolutely, positively sure about that?

[CarolB]

This is no competition, but a complement to LibriVox....The more the merrier!

Scout, if you look, you will see that some people over on LibriVox include a link to Legamus in their signature, which is how I found out about it.

It's all to do with freedom of choice - and fun.
No persuasion necessary.

Carol

[scout]

Hmm, not a lot of people feasting on the food I laid out. Good to see some people are biting, though!

First things first. Victor, I know you mean well, but I have personal reasons for not being suitable to narrate myself. From that you must draw your own conclusions because I do not discuss my personal details in public.

@Cori/Viktor: What I do not understand is the implied situation where a literary work will not be in the PD in USA (LibriVox) but will be in the PD in Europe (Legamus). Please explain this (in a concise manner and layman's terms) and I promise I will get back to you all soon.

Cheers,
scout

[Piotrek]

As to the US/other countries copyright differeces.
The American copyright law works on the basis of year of publication- whatever was published before 1923 is OK for the US-based Librivox to record (don't ask me why this particular cut-off year, though).
On the other hand most other countires have applied the rule saying that a work is protected for x years after the author's death (x being usually anywhere between 50 and 100).
An example
The author whose work I've recently started recording here died in 1937 (over 70 years ago, which makes his works PD in most countries using "death+ x years" rule), yet this particular work was written after 1922, so it's still protected in the US, so it would be illegal for the US-based librivox to accept these recordings and store them on the US-based servers of Internet Archive.

I hope this answer helps. I know the rules are kinda overcomplicated...

[CarolB]

Scout, if you are really interested in the complexities of Coyright issues, this link will give you food for thought. Although as you browse Librivox yourself you may have already come across it.

https://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=39377

Carol

[scout]

Quick answers, I like that.

Thanks Piotrek, your post was both clear and helpful. Please correct me if I'm wrong when I state that in the year 2012, any works by an author who died between 1923 and 1942 (= 2012 - 70 years) would be PD only in those countries with the Life + 70 year rule (most of Europe I presume) but not in the USA. That's pretty much all of the period between the great wars! If true, has anyone done a survey on which authors/works this is applicable to? I tip that the list will be huge!

Carol, I'm afraid the complexities of Copyright issues is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I'm not prone to the dry stuff nowadays, IMO this is far better left to those fresh young minds!

Regards,
scout

[CarolB]

IMO this is far better left to those fresh young minds!

Ah, but scout, you SEEM interested enough to ask!!!

I believe that in USA the work needs to have been published in 1922 or earlier - regardless of when the author died. But why don't you check it out for yourself? Using your mind is a good way of keeping it young, instead of growing old and crotchety.

Carol

[Piotrek]

As far as I know at this point the influx of new works into Public Domain in US is kind of frozen until some year around 2020 (I saw the exact date somewhere, but I can't remember it know.

As to your question, those US rules we're discussing here don't care about the date of death. The works of an author, who died in, say, 1940, are in public domain in the US, provided that they were published before 1923.

[scout]

IMO this is far better left to those fresh young minds!

Ah, but scout, you SEEM interested enough to ask!!! Carol

Sure, Carol, interest. However, the truth lies in the fact that I sometimes get lazy. There, you caught me out!

I believe that in USA the work needs to have been published in 1922 or earlier - regardless of when the author died. But why don't you check it out for yourself?

That's the way I understood it; some LibriVox forum posts by among others Ruth kept me abreast of that.

Using your mind is a good way of keeping it young, instead of growing old and crotchety.

Sure, just what do you think I'm doing? Hmm, old and crotchety, eh? Is that really how I project myself to others? Nah, most people think I'm the nicest guy in town, especially the ladies! But also the cheekiest!

As far as I know at this point the influx of new works into Public Domain in US is kind of frozen until some year around 2020 (I saw the exact date somewhere, but I can't remember it know.

As to your question, those US rules we're discussing here don't care about the date of death. The works of an author, who died in, say, 1940, are in public domain in the US, provided that they were published before 1923.

Right, that's how I understood it, that's why I stated author/work. In other words, an author who died in the the mentioned period, together with those of his works that were published in that period would be of interest in a survey. Now did I state that correctly?

Sorry folks, I'm going to bed now--dentist appointment tomorrow! (Gee, I wish the web-master would write smiley explanations in both German and English ... I think I got it right this time.)

Goodnight! (To be continued ...)
scout

[CarolB]

Sure, Carol, interest. However, the truth lies in the fact that I sometimes get lazy. There, you caught me out!

Enough said.

Carol

[neckertb]

Quick answers, I like that.

in the year 2012, any works by an author who died between 1923 and 1942 (= 2012 - 70 years) would be PD only in those countries with the Life + 70 year rule (most of Europe I presume) but not in the USA. That's pretty much all of the period between the great wars! If true, has anyone done a survey on which authors/works this is applicable to?

Actually, I've been looking and looking for short stories in French for the collection and can't find any. Legamus' challenge will be to manage to gather enough readers to actually complete some things. The books I've found in French so far are quite long, but there's basically no one but me, and I already have a list of solos that are all suited for LV...

Now should you feel like making a list of potential works, please consider digging into French as well

[scout]

Here's a bunch of suggestions that might tempt Andy Minter to continue his wonderful work at Legamus. (Andy already narrated Four Max Carrodos Stories at Librivox.)

Ernest Bramah SMITH {UK} (M: 1868 Mar 20 - 1942 Jun 23 (wrongly 26 or 27))
(ps: Ernest BRAMAH)
- The Eyes Of Max Carrados [s|1923]
- The Specimen Case [s|1924]
- Max Carrados Mysteries [s|1927]
- Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat [f|1928]
- Short Stories Of To-day And Yesterday [s|1929]
- A Guide To The Varieties And Rarity Of English Regal Copper Coins [n|1929]
- A Little Flutter [1930]
- The Moon Of Much Gladness (US: The Return Of Kai Lung) [f|1932]
- The Bravo Of London [f|1934]
- The Kai Lung Omnibus [s|1936]
- Kai Lung Beneath The Mulberry Tree [f|1940]

Only publications that meet the criteria given in this thread are included in the list.

[Viktor]

That suggestion might have to wait for a little bit more: Ernst Bramah Smith would be "free" with the beginning of 2013, if I'm not mistaken.