Animal Farm Audio Book

I want to know if George Orwell's novels 1984 and Animal Farm are now legally in the United States public domain?

Meaning, can anyone record the material into an audio book form and then sell it if he or she desired to do so or simply wished to give it away free on the Net ?

Also, is there a legit, reliable site where one can easily find out if a work such as a novel is in the U.S. public domain? There seems to be rules for book copyrights which at times contradict one another.

No, George Orwell's books are not in the public domain in the United States yet. However, they are online at - I think - an Australian library (I'm leery of using that myself).

I good way to check, though it might not be ENTIRELY comprehensive, is Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page (you'll see that Orwell is not available there). This is probably one of the most comprehensive sites, too. You can also check http://www.online-literature.com/author_ index.php (which has George Orwell, but only chapter summaries of Animal Farm and 1984). BTW: These two sites are definitely legitimate and a good way of checking public domain works...especially Gutenberg.

From Wikipedia, public domain laws for the United States: "Before 1978, unpublished works were not covered by the federal copyright act. This does not mean that the works were in the public domain. Rather, it means that they were covered under (perpetual) common law copyright. The Copyright Act of 1976, effective 1978, abolished common law copyright in the United States; all works, published and unpublished, are now covered by federal statutory copyright. The claim that "pre-1923 works are in the public domain" is correct only for published works; unpublished works are under federal copyright for at least the life of the author plus 70 years. For a work made for hire, the copyright in a work created before 1978, but not theretofore in the public domain or registered for copyright, subsists from January 1, 1978, and endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication, or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.[4] If the work was created before 1978 but first published on or before December 31, 2002, the work is covered by federal copyright until 2047.

Works published with notice of copyright or registered in unpublished form prior to January 1, 1964, had to be renewed during the 28th year of their first term of copyright to maintain copyright for a full 95-year term.[5]

Until the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, the lack of a proper copyright notice would place an otherwise copyrightable work into the public domain, although for works published between January 1, 1978 and February 28, 1989, this could be prevented by registering the work with the Library of Congress within 5 years of publication. After March 1, 1989, an author's copyright in a work begins when it is fixed in a tangible form; neither publication nor registration is required, and a lack of a copyright notice does not place the work into the public domain."

If all else fails, follow those rules. George Orwell died in 1950, so based on the above, his works wouldn't be in the public domain for 70 years after his death or 2020 (however, I read that it's 70 years after the author's death from the 1st of January of the present year, which would make it 2021 since he didn't die January 1st of '50).

Note: You could call The Library of Congress or check on their site http://www.loc.gov/index.html or http://www.loc.gov/fedsearch/?targets%5B %5D=recommend&targets%5B%5D=webpages &targets%5B%5D=z3950&targets%5B% 5D=ammem&targets%5B%5D=ppoc&targ ets%5B%5D=thomas&cclquery=public+dom ain+books&search_button=GO to see if they have more precise information about which are public domain works.

2007-11-05 09:44:49 by peapatchisland