Public domain or not ?

[Mary A]

Can you say me, please, if The little white bird belongs to the public domain ?
Can we make a translation in an another langage (in Europe) without paying rights to Great Ormond Hospital ?
Which books are in the public domain for Europe except Great Britain ?
Thanks a lot.

[Robert Greenham]

I think The Little White Bird must be in the public domain, although maybe not quite yet in the UK. Certainly, you can read it online, free of charge, by accessing this website:

http://www.literature.org/authors/barrie-james-matthew/the-little-white-bird/

or this one:

http://barrie.thefreelibrary.com/The-Little-White-Bird

or this one:

http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/quickstep/1103/little_white_bird.htm

Take your pick!  I don't know if there are any online translations available, but I imagine anyone can set about translating the novel if they wish. It might be as well to check with the original publisher, however, (in the UK, Hodder and Stoughton) because copyright law might vary from country to country. For example, in the UK I think works of literature become free of copyright 70 years after the death of the author, whereas in the US I think it is after 50 years, but please don't assume this. I am no expert.

Good luck, anyway.

[Robert Greenham]

I forgot to say that Great Ormond Street Hospital have no claim over any royalties, or whatever, other than for Peter Pan.

[Mary A]

Thanks a lot for your answer.
Peter Pan is a character who appears in The little white bird, so I was wondering if Great Ormond Hospital has right to claim royalties. The book indeed seems to be in the public domain.

[Robert Greenham]

Yes, the character of Peter Pan appeared first in The Little White Bird, of course, but I'm fairly sure that GOSH have entitlement to royalties from only Peter Pan the play, and works drawing from that play. Remember that The Little White Bird was published in November 1902, over two years before Peter Pan the play made its public appearance.

I think perhaps you should check with Andrew Birkin, or otherwise with Martin Sheehan, the Peter Pan Development Manager at Great Ormond Street Hospital, whose e-mail address is: sheehanm@gosh.nhs.uk

[Mary A]

You're so kind !
Thank you.
I'll write to Martin Sheehan.
I want to be sure.
I'll tell you his answer.
See you soon.

[Mary A]

I've got an answer. The man I wrote to was very kind and helpful.
This book is not in the public domain.
Any of Barrie's works is.
I don't understand why www.gutenberg.org claims it is !

[andrew]

Take a look at the copyright page on this website. The Little White Bird forms part of the Peter Pan Gift, and is therefore the copyright of GOSH (or at any rate those chapters in which PP appears). It will remain in copyight until 2007 (i.e. 70 years after Barrie's death), at which point all Barrie's works arguably fall into the public domain; however, thanks to the late Lord Callaghan, the House of Lords passed a resolution that puts the Peter Pan Gift into a legal no man's land. The idea was to let GOSH reap the benefits of Barrie's gift forever, but the actual wording was necessarily ambiguous. Clearly the House of Lords (or the Commons come to that) has no legal right to set a precedent by extending  the copyright of any work beyond the universally agreed limit of 70 years from an author's death, however worthy the cause. Therefore the Callaghan resolution amounts to no more than a moral guideline - if you want to exploit Peter Pan, that's fine, but make sure the hospital sees something of the profits should there be any........
If I'm in any legal error here, hopefully Martin @ GOSH will correct me....

[Robert Greenham]

Please accept my apologies, Mary, for unintentionally misleading you over this matter. I'm a relative newcomer to all this, as Andrew knows!

[Kim Agent]

Please excuse my stupid question I am about  to ask, But I'm also  new to this..... What does that mean after 70 years, that GOSH will have to turn over  everything to the public or what.....   sorry about the stupid question.......  and   Robert   sorry  about the miss age I did on Mary  I was just excited that you found something, That I added wrong....   Thanks  Kim

[Mary A]

Thanks.
But why can we have for free Barrie's works at gutenberg.org ?

I want to publish french translations.

[Mary A]

Please accept my apologies, Mary, for unintentionally misleading you over this matter. I'm a relative newcomer to all this, as Andrew knows!

No, you're very nice ! Don't be worry !  

[andrew]

Do please look at my copyright page, which I think explains it all. The reason the Gutenberg site carries the LWB is that up until a few years ago, the copyright law (= the Berne Convention) protected works up to 50 years after an author's death. Therefore in 1987 Barrie went into the public domain. Subsequently this was extended to 70 years, so now Barrie is back in copyright, but during the late 80s/90s he was legally out, hence Gutenberg......  if you want to know more, do a google search on copyright law! or look it up on E Britannica............

[Mary A]

Thanks for this explanation. It's clearer for me.