Enid Blyton in the Public Domain in Some Countries

[RDMorrell]

For the first time ever, one of Enid's books has appeared on Project Gutenberg! It's her little book of poems, Child Whispers, which I think was her first published work (or close to it). Here is the link:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62928" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess the book's appearance on Project Gutenberg means that its copyright has expired and it's now in the public domain. I think this is the first time one of Enid's books has entered the public domain like this. So it's quite an historic day! I wonder what other works of Enid's from the 1920s we'll start seeing on there?

If anyone else has already posted about this, I'm more than happy for the threads to be merged.

NB: Not actually legal to download in the UK due to its copyright laws. Apologies - I didn't realise that when I first posted this.

[Kate Mary]

I know very little about copyright law but I think that Enid Enid Blyton's works are only in the public domain in countries that have the life + 50 year rule, e.g. Canada, Australia, NZ and others. The USA is different I believe and anything published there before 1925 is out of copyright. The UK and the EU have life + 70 years before copyright expires. The Faded Page website, a Canadian site, has many Enid Blyton titles available to download free but only if you live in a country with the life + 50 year rule.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It strikes me as ludicrous that an author's works can come out of copyright in other countries while still being under copyright in the country in which the writer lived, wrote and was published! Once the copyright period is over, books can be adapted and used in various ways (which could be lucrative and may or may not be sensitive to the originals) without permission being needed. It seems wrong that that already applies to the works of Enid Blyton in Canada and a number of other countries (and has done since the end of 2018) but won't apply until the end of 2038 in the UK!

By the way, I'm not criticising particular countries - just the haphazard scheme of copyrighting. Wouldn't it make more sense to have a worldwide standard? If that's not possible, then surely a country's copyright laws should apply only to its own authors. When dealing with authors from other countries, the copyright laws of the relevant country ought to apply.

[Kate Mary]

Ludicrous is the word. The UK had the life + 50 year rule until the 1980s when copyright law changed to bring us into line with the rest of the EU, in Commonwealth countries they still have life +50. In the 80s we had the daft situation where authors such as Kipling and J M Barrie went out of copyright and then back into copyright due to the change in the law. I read somewhere that Alice in Wonderland went out of copyright in 1905, (as the law was then copyright was only for seven years after the death of the author) but due to a change in the law Through the Looking Glass did not come into the public domain until 1948.

I would love to download a copy of Child Whispers but being a law-abiding sort I won't!

EDIT: For my own satisfaction (I don't suppose anyone else is interested), I checked the details of the copyright on Alice. Alice in Wonderland went out of copyright in 1907, the law then being seven years after the death of the author or 42 years after publication. Through the Looking Glass remained in copyright until 1948 as the law changed in 1911.

And rather than a downloaded copy I would much rather have a proper paper one, not much chance but I can dream!

[Katharine]

I agree, it doesn't seem to make any sense.

Regardless of what the 'right' length of time is, I would have said that makes more sense for the time limit to be set by the country of the author's birth/residency, but nowadays I would imagine that would be much harder to enforce.

I wonder if it will change at all once we leave the EU?

[Anita Bensoussane]

I would love to download a copy of Child Whispers but being a law-abiding sort I won't!

If a law is wrong though, is it right to abide by it or wrong to abide by it? Obviously it's illegal to break it - but it's not necessarily immoral.

I haven't downloaded the copy of Child Whispers myself, but that's because I'm generally quite wary of downloading things!

[Courtenay]

And what happens if you're an Australian, but living in the UK?? I agree it's insane and there should be some sort of international standard, though I can imagine there'd be endless arguments over what it should be...

[Katharine]

And what happens if you're an Australian, but living in the UK?? I agree it's insane and there should be some sort of international standard, though I can imagine there'd be endless arguments over what it should be...

I would imagine that you are bound by the laws of the country you are residing in at the time. However not, sure how you would stand if you downloaded it in Australia while visiting your family, and then brought it back with you. Would you need to declare it at Customs?

[RDMorrell]

Sorry guys, I didn't realise it would be illegal to download it in the UK! But it's still kind of historic IMO to see it on Project Gutenberg, which I believe is one of the biggest and most noteworthy free e-book sites in the world. I visit PG every day, mainly in search of old American series books. There are all kinds of gems to be found on there. But this is the very first time Enid Blyton has appeared on it.

Anyway, if you're not in the UK and reside in a country where the 50+ rule applies, feel free to download it. CW is not a particularly long read - just a few little poems. Not actually the sort of book I'd normally go for, but because of who the author is and its significance as one of her earliest published works ...

Anyway, I've now updated my original post to clarify that it shouldn't be downloaded if you're in the UK. Mind you, it is still possible to read the book online without downloading it, so that might be OK for you guys - not sure.

[Courtenay]

I would imagine that you are bound by the laws of the country you are residing in at the time. However not, sure how you would stand if you downloaded it in Australia while visiting your family, and then brought it back with you. Would you need to declare it at Customs?

Yeah, that's just what I was thinking. It goes to show how crazy it all is...

[RDMorrell]

The Faded Page website, a Canadian site, has many Enid Blyton titles available to download free but only if you live in a country with the life + 50 year rule.

Thank you for mentioning this site, Kate Mary. I had never heard of it before. It's a lot smaller than Project Gutenberg, so I'm guessing it's fairly new? Although with over 5,200 e-books now, I guess it's been there for a little while. Anyway, I have been visiting this site for last few hours and having an absolute ball! Have completed or considerably added to quite a number of series that I started on Project Gutenberg. (NZ has that life + 50-year rule, same as Canada, so I'm good.) Among some of my highlights so far have been acquiring my first Ted Scott Flying Stories and first couple of Don Sturdy books, adding to my Dana Girls collection and completing several series by Percy Keese Fitzhugh. Filled in several gaps in my Kay Tracey collection as well and got my first couple of Beverly Gray books. It truly has been an absolute BLAST! I see a handful of Biggles books on there, although I have all those I think. Their Blyton range certainly isn't too shabby.

Anyway, many thanks again for alerting me to this awesome site. Along with Project Gutenberg, I think I will be visiting it on a daily basis from now on!

[pete9012S]

Yes, I agree.
I love the Faded Page sight and I have got many long-forgotten out of print books to read on my kindle from them.

[Wolfgang]

It strikes me as ludicrous that an author's works can come out of copyright in other countries while still being under copyright in the country in which the writer lived, wrote and was published! Once the copyright period is over, books can be adapted and used in various ways (which could be lucrative and may or may not be sensitive to the originals) without permission being needed. It seems wrong that that already applies to the works of Enid Blyton in Canada and a number of other countries (and has done since the end of 2018) but won't apply until the end of 2038 in the UK!

Actually Gutenberg.org blocks German IP-addresses completely because some books that can be found on their page still have a copyright in Germany and have been a matter of lawsuit.

[Anita Bensoussane]

That's a pity, Wolfgang. You'd think they'd be able to find a way of blocking certain titles while still allowing others.

Sorry guys, I didn't realise it would be illegal to download it in the UK! But it's still kind of historic IMO to see it on Project Gutenberg, which I believe is one of the biggest and most noteworthy free e-book sites in the world. I visit PG every day, mainly in search of old American series books. There are all kinds of gems to be found on there. But this is the very first time Enid Blyton has appeared on it.

No worries, Rowan. As you say, it's interesting to know that Child Whispers has been added to the Project Gutenberg site.

[Tony Summerfield]

I think that whoever owns the Faded Page has an absolute cheek they are using my scans of Enid Blyton books straight out of the Cave and further more taking descriptions of the novels straight from those in the Cave.

I guess you guys all love this site, but parasites who just use other people's work to make themselves look good make me sick.