Project Gutenberg - Literature in the public domain

From What The Wiki?!

Gregory Newby introduces the Gutenberg Project and the basic idea of literature published under "public domain". Newby is managing director and CEO of the Gutenberg Project, founded in 1971 to digitalize texts, so "to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks".

Newby explained to the audience where copyright came from, as copyright is a social invention. It was put in place right after Gutenbergs invention of a movable type in the 1450s. Further on, "The statute of Anne" (1710) granted a 14-year copyright to the stationer's company in England. At the "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works" in 1886 this grant was internationalized. Copyright now provides a temporary monopoly to written works and other intellectual output, so that creators of creative and scientific arts can benefit financially from their efforts. But: Historically copyright has usually been owned by the publishers not the authors or editors or artists!

What's the public domain?

For literature and similar works, the public domain is essentially everything that is not under copyright protection. Most of the new works today, including books, they get copyright protection automatically when they are created. Due to international agreements, these principle apply worldwide. The copyright lasts for the life of the property owner and 70 years thereafter.

Why care about public domain?

Public domain is a huge source of cultural heritage, Newby argues. Feature films these days are based on motives or story lines of material under public domain. Shakepeare's dramas and the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm are just examples. It provides inspiration for new creative activity, based on older creative works. Copyright was inventend to balance public domain. Copyright is borrowed from the public domain temporarily.

The Gutenberg Project is committed to make available literature under public domain to everyone. Right now it digitalizes books published in the US before 1923. It has about 16000 titles stored in the database, available for free download and free distribution. There is also a German branch and an Australian branch of the project. To support the public domain we should make copyright decisions, Newby says. We should grant items to the public domain when appropriate. Or we could license them at other terms, for wider use. This helps to enhance access to the public domain. All that should not be confused with issues such as patents, trademarks and licenses.

Related links: Creative Commons Union for the Public Domain

Related Pages:

• Literature wants to be free! - the abstract
• Greg Newby - the speaker
• Editing Track:Literature wants to be free! - video and other material on the lecture
• Preserving ancient culture with modern methods - Article on lecture Hacking Mona Lisa

Zettmann 30 July 2005 18:48 (CEST)