Slashdot Mirror
Amazon Pulls Purchased E-Book Copies of 1984 and Animal Farm
Oracle Goddess writes "In a story just dripping with irony, Amazon Kindle owners awoke this morning to discover that 1984 and Animal Farm had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for, and thought they owned. Apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by George Orwell from people's Kindles and credited their accounts for the price. Amazon customer service may or may not have responded to queries by stating, 'We've always been at war with Eastasia.'"
dantel modelleri
oh for fuck's sake.
atheist: does no believe there is a supreme being
agnostic: does not believe there is a way to prove or disprove the existence of a supreme being
why can't anyone get this right? they are mutually exclusive opinions
-SaNo
Nitpick. athiest : believes that there is no such thing as a supreme being (it's a positive affirmation, not the lack of an affirmation as your wording states)
but these novels are impiratable since their copyright has expired
Hmm....
George Orwell died in 1950. (link), and 1984 was published in 1949.
The copyright law in effect in the US in 1949 allowed for a 28 "first" term, with a possible 28 year extension. (link).
The law was changed in 1976, allowing any published work still in its first-term to be extended another 67 years. Since 1949 + 28 = 1977, Orwell's work was still in its first term, and would not have expired under the original law until 2005 -- or 2053 under the 1976 extension.
AND, the 1998 Sony Bono copyrgiht extension slapped a flat "life + 75 years" deal, which is kinda a moot point but would still push copyright unil at least 2024.
ANNND, any signficiant edits work of 1984 would have created a new derivitive work, with a whole new copyright.
Or in other words--1984 is probably still well covered by copyright, and not technically in the public domain in the United States.
(Yes, you can find a copy on the internet. This is the internet, where you can also find anything and everything for free if you look hard enough.)
(And, yes, I know Orwell was from the UK. I don't know the UK laws, I don't have a good guide for the UK laws, and as far as I know copyright law on the other side of the pond is still a grant given by the king to a publisher so that a particular work gets published.... so 1984 might never get into the public domain at all.)
(Not to mention that if it's not in there now, the "Mickey Mouse" effect might keep it from ever getting there.)
ANNND, any signficiant edits work of 1984 would have created a new derivitive work, with a whole new copyright.
Or in other words--1984 is probably still well covered by copyright, and not technically in the public domain in the United States.
(Yes, you can find a copy on the internet. This is the internet, where you can also find anything and braineverything for free if you look hard enough.)