Dear Subscriber,
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing ebooks mentioned in this newsletter.
CONTENTS:
Bestsellers
Our Bestsellers page (http://gutenberg.net.au/bestsellers.html
)contains the titles of the top ten bestselling books in both fiction and
non-fiction categories for the years 1923 through 1953 (from Publisher's
Weekly) with links to those that are available at Project Gutenberg
Australia. All works by authors who died after 31 December, 1954 are
still under copyright in Australia.
In the fiction category, there are some some surprising authors on the
list. Zane Grey, Booth Tarkington and Lloyd C Douglas are now out of
favour, even though their books are still very readable. On the other
hand, the works of Virginia Woolf and D H Lawrence are still widely
read.
The non-fiction category has some fascinating titles which would readily
find a publisher even today, including 'Self-Mastery Through Conscious
Auto-Suggestion', 'Diet and Health', and 'You Must Relax.' No doubt the
actual content would, in many cases, be quite different.
It is difficult to find many of the non-fiction titles in libraries
today, much more difficult than finding many of the fiction titles. One
supposes that the transitory nature of many of the non-fiction works has
meant that the books date more easily.
Why not click on the Bestsellers link and browse the list. At the very
least it provides an interesting insight into the reading taste of people
more than 50 years ago.
Copyright in Australia
In Australia there is no system of registration for copyright
protection. You do not need to publish your work, to put a copyright
notice on it, or to do anything else to be covered by copyright--the
protection is free and automatic. There are no forms to fill in, and
there are no fees to be paid. You do not have to send your work to the
Australian Copyright Council or to anyone else. Further, as a result of
international treaties, such as the Berne Convention, Australian
copyright works are protected in most other countries, and copyright
works from most other countries are protected in Australia.
Under Australian copyright law, work published (anywhere in the world) in
an author's lifetime are, in Australia, protected for the life of the
author plus 70 years from the end of the year of the author's death.
After the protection period, they enter the "public domain". However,
they may still be subject to copyright in other countries. In countries
where copyright protections can extend more than 70 years past an
author's death, the author's estate and publishers still retain their
legal and moral rights to oversee the work in those countries.
Once copyright has expired it cannot be revived by subsequent
publication, or otherwise. New editions cannot extend copyright, however
new work (such as an introduction) will be copyright. Translators,
editors, and illustrators have similar rights to those of the author of
the work.
Amendments to the Copyright Act were made in 2005, as a result of the
Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Those amendments extended
the period of protection (for most material that was still protected by
copyright at the time) to 70 years, as outlined in an earlier paragraph.
In general, material that was previously protected for the life of the
creator plus 50 years is now protected for the creator's life life plus
70 years, and material that was previously protected for 50 years from
first publication is protected for 70 years from the end of the year of
first publication.
The extended period of protection only applies to material that was still
protected by copyright on 1 January 2005, or created on or after that
date. There has been no revival of copyright in material which was in the
public domain as at 1 January 2005. This means that, with regard to
books, all material in the public domain as at midnight on 31 December
2004 remains in the public domain. For example, Miles Franklin died in
1954. Her book My Brilliant Career entered the public domain at midnight
on 31 December 2004. It remains in the public domain. Works published by
authors who died in or after 1955 will now remain in copyright until
midnight on 31 December 2025, at the earliest.
Quotable Quotes (From Doctor Widger's Library)
(/widger/home.html)
The following are from Lord Chesterfield's letters to his son.
(/widger/home.html#widger)
* * * * *
Above all things, and upon all occasions, avoid speaking of yourself, if
it be possible. Such is the natural pride and vanity of our hearts, that
it perpetually breaks out, even in people of the best parts, in all the
various modes and figures of the egotism.
* * *
If, therefore, you would avoid the accusation of pedantry on one hand, or
the suspicion of ignorance on the other, abstain from learned
ostentation. Speak the language of the company that you are in; speak it
purely, and unlarded with any other. Never seem wiser, nor more learned,
than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a
private pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it; merely to show that
you have one. If you are asked what o'clock it is, tell it; but do not
proclaim it hourly and unasked, like the watchman.
* * *
I shall go to town in four or five days, and carry back with me a little
more hearing than I brought; but yet, not half enough for common wants.
One wants ready pocket-money much oftener than one wants great sums; and
to use a very odd expression, I want to hear at sight. I love every-day
senses, every-day wit and entertainment; a man who is only good on
holydays is good for very little.
Australian Poetry
'Er name's Doreen ...Well spare me bloomin' days!
You could er knocked me down wiv 'arf a brick!
Yes, me, that kids meself I know their ways,
An' 'as a name for smoogin' in our click!
I just lines up an' tips the saucy wink.
But strike! The way she piled on dawg! Yer'd think
A bloke was givin' back-chat to the Queen....
'Er name's Doreen.
From 'The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke' (http://gutenberg.net.au/pgaus.html#dennis)
A list of all the books we provide is available from http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty.html
Check there to see if there are other works by the authors listed
below
-- JANUARY POSTINGS -- Jan 2008 Burma and the Karens, San C Po [080005xx.xxx] 1587A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800051.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800051h.html Jan 2008 The Karen People of Burma, Harry Ignatius Marshall[080006xx.xxx] 1588A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800061.txt or .zip Jan 2008 The Karens of the Golden Chersonese, A R McMahon [080007xx.xxx] 1589A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800071.txt or .zip Jan 2008 The Karens of Burma, Harry Ignatius Marshall [080008xx.xxx] 1590A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800081.txt or .zip Jan 2008 Bindle, Herbert Jenkins [080004xx.xxx] 1586A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800041.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800041h.html Jan 2008 Scaramouche the Kingmaker, Rafael Sabatini [080003xx.xxx] 1585A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800031.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800031h.html Jan 2008 The Martyrdom of Man, Winwood Reade [080002xx.xxx] 1584A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800021.txt or .zip Jan 2008 Mr Pottermack's Oversight, R Austin Freeman [080001xx.xxx] 1583A http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800011.txt or .zip http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800011h.html
Newsletter Editor: Colin Choat.
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