Public Domain

Copyright Term Extensions are Looming!

In our September 2014 newsletter, we wrote about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This is an international initiative, being negotiated in secret, which will have far-reaching impacts in many areas of trade, copyright, and more. We urge all fans of Project Gutenberg to learn about this initiative, and speak with lawmakers and others about your concerns. […]

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The Sanction of the Victim

Gutenberg Printing Press (thumbnail)

Consider this question: Would any of our modern publishers be able to compete with a mind and heart such as that of Johannes Gutenberg? Yet they, and their predecessors, The Stationers, managed to take over the entire world of The Gutenberg Press with the first of an era of legal manipulation we call “Intellectual Property.” […]

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Project Gutenberg Yearly Overview: 2010

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Noon, January 6, 2011, was the end of Project Gutenberg’s 2010 production year. A great deal happened during the year though perhaps the most important was how 2010 became the year of the ebook. All ebook websites reported an increase in downloads, especially at the end of the year. Gutenberg.org also saw a big increase, […]

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Oprah picks Public Domain titles for her Book Club

Oprah's: 'A Tale Of Two Cities' book cover (thumbnail)

After all these years, Oprah finally made a selection–actually a pair of selections–from the public domain. “A Tale Of Two Cities” and “Great Expectations” both by Charles Dickens and available for years from PG and all the other eBook distributors who use our materials. In fact Tale Of Two Cities was one of our first […]

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January 1, 2011 will be Public Domain Day

Public Domain Day 2011 (thumbnail)

Every new year since the first copyrights expired, back around 1724, the world has looked forward to the expiration of copyrights and the availability of public domain works, which have been kept under publishing monopolies. This coming January 1, Europeans will see a nice list of great works entering the public domain as their copyright […]

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