Hi, My idea was to use this particular title to put the Mexican copyright term in the spotlight. Not necessarily Project Gutenberg needs to be involved; it could be arranged for that this text, some time after it appears in PG (I am close to submitting it) be brought under the attention of Mexicans, and in particular the Mexican press. I was NOT planning to place a marker above the text, which is supposed to last much longer than this issue is to, only to give the longest copyright term in the world some bad press... I can make my statement by just having this text in PG. I understand the reasons why PG doesn't want to talk about foreign copyrights, as that would open more than a can of nasty worms. However, the pattern should be clear, that harmonizing always means extending, and long terms in developing countries are relatively easy to buy, as the public has more pressing issues to think about. For the long term achievement of Project Gutenberg's aims, keeping copyrights in control is essential. A life+100 term combined with a so-called "paying public domain" as has been proposed by some in the business will effectively kill PG. If it is not intended as a form of protest about the weird status of Peter Pan, I strongly am in favour of removing that claim: the details are in wikipedia: The U.K. copyright for /Peter Pan/ originally expired at the end of 1987 (50 years after Barrie's death), but was reestablished through 2007 by the European Union directive. Additionally, in 1988 the government had enacted a perpetual extension of some of the rights to the work, entitling the hospital to royalties for any performance or publication of the work. This is not a true perpetual copyright </wiki/Perpetual_copyright>, however, as it does not grant the hospital creative control nor the right to refuse permission. Nor does it cover the Peter Pan sections of /The Little White Bird/, which pre-dates the play. The exact phrasing is in section 301 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988: 301. The provisions of Schedule 6 have effect for conferring on trustees for the benefit of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, a right to a royalty in respect of the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service of the play 'Peter Pan' by Sir James Matthew Barrie, or of any adaptation of that work, notwithstanding that copyright in the work expired on 31 December </wiki/December_31> 1987 </wiki/1987>. ([1] <http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_28.htm#sdiv6>) Jeroen Hellingman Greg Newby wrote:
Hi, Jeroen. Thanks for thinking to protect folks outside
of the US, but this type of statement is something we don't need or want. As you see in our license & small print at http://gutenberg.org/license , we only ever talk about public domain status in the US.
We do not have the time or expertise to extend our copyright research beyond the US (we meaning PG of US, in this case). To do so for a particular item might imply our willingness to do it for all items, in all countries -- something we definitely won't/can't do.
Yes, I know Peter Pan is an exception (in more ways than one).
Yes, I know non-US mirrors might be taking risks.
I hope this makes sense to you. -- Greg _______________________________________________ gutvol-d mailing list gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d