4 ms·

> DRM-free classics that are out of copyright. I started down this road with a few books about two years ago, and I have so many now on my list to read that I

> DRM-free classics that are out of copyright. I started down this road with a few books about two years ago, and I have so many now on my list to read that I hardly ever get to reading a modern book. I read a lot from Standard Ebooks. But one thing to keep in mind with them- they do edit the books to make changes for readability. Not necessarily a big deal, but something to know.

bluebarbet 3mo ago
Same. Ironic that a quirk of modern technology would put classical literature back in fashion.
- dredmorbius 3mo ago
  This happens more than you might expect. There are several films which became popular staples on television after copyright expired, wasn't renewed, or was improperly registered in the first place (prior to automatic copyright assignment enacted in 1976). It's a Wonderful Life is the canonical example, though there is a long list of other public domain films in the US: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_do...>. A Wonderful Life fell back into copyright, at least partially, when the musical score was bought by Republic Pictures in 1993. <https://library.law.uconn.edu/2022/12/08/its-a-wonderful-life-how-a-copyright-glitch-created-a-christmas-cult-classic/ https://library.law.uconn.edu/2022/12/08/its-a-wonderful-lif...> Ted Turner started the Turner Broadcasting System by buying up small local stations with loose licencing arrangement allowing them unlimited reruns of old films and television shows. Shifting to cable distribution for his "superstation" eventually grew into CNN. (Mentioned in an HN comment about a month ago: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48038175 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48038175>.) I strongly suspect that the popularity of Shakespeare, which grew rapidly through the 19th century, had to do with the demand for popular entertainment combined with the prohibitive cost of contemporary works for many performing companies. The rise of radio and need to fill airtime likely lead to the popularity of classical music, out of copyright and hence readily available for broadcast, at a time when broadcast rights were at best poorly defined and restricted, if at all. (The concept first appeared in law in 1928, wasn't standardised until 1961, and wasn't globally adopted under the Berne Convention until the 1970s/1980s, or later.) <https://thelaw.institute/copyright-and-related-rights/evolution-broadcast-definition-copyright-law/ https://thelaw.institute/copyright-and-related-rights/evolut...> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention#Adoption_and_implementation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention#Adoption_and_...>
  - dierogeryoung 3mo ago
    [flagged]
  - dredmorbius 3mo ago
    A flagged/dead reply notes a case of an unauthorised remake of a film getting wider distribution. The original, Skeem, was released in South Africa in 2011. The knock-off, John and John, was released in Ghana in 2017. The latter was unauthorised. The writer, director, and producer of the original, Tim Green, opted not to pursue infringement claims against Kofi Asamoah, who produced John and John, as the cost would not be worth any possible recovery. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeem> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_John https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_John> @dierogeryoung: I'm not sure why your comments are flagged/dead, but that's a likely outcome if you're using LLMs to write/edit your HN content, which is suggested by your history. See: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22336638 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22336638>, <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48136536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48136536>, and <https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated>.
devindotcom 3mo ago
Curious: edit for readability in what way? Surely just layout stuff, not changing the content of the books?
- loloquwowndueo 3mo ago
  I believe they’d change the spelling of a word if it’s archaic and obscure in the original text. https://standardebooks.org/about/what-makes-standard-ebooks-different https://standardebooks.org/about/what-makes-standard-ebooks-...

bluebarbet 3mo ago

Same. Ironic that a quirk of modern technology would put classical literature back in fashion.

dredmorbius 3mo ago
This happens more than you might expect. There are several films which became popular staples on television after copyright expired, wasn't renewed, or was improperly registered in the first place (prior to automatic copyright assignment enacted in 1976). It's a Wonderful Life is the canonical example, though there is a long list of other public domain films in the US: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_do...>. A Wonderful Life fell back into copyright, at least partially, when the musical score was bought by Republic Pictures in 1993. <https://library.law.uconn.edu/2022/12/08/its-a-wonderful-life-how-a-copyright-glitch-created-a-christmas-cult-classic/ https://library.law.uconn.edu/2022/12/08/its-a-wonderful-lif...> Ted Turner started the Turner Broadcasting System by buying up small local stations with loose licencing arrangement allowing them unlimited reruns of old films and television shows. Shifting to cable distribution for his "superstation" eventually grew into CNN. (Mentioned in an HN comment about a month ago: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48038175 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48038175>.) I strongly suspect that the popularity of Shakespeare, which grew rapidly through the 19th century, had to do with the demand for popular entertainment combined with the prohibitive cost of contemporary works for many performing companies. The rise of radio and need to fill airtime likely lead to the popularity of classical music, out of copyright and hence readily available for broadcast, at a time when broadcast rights were at best poorly defined and restricted, if at all. (The concept first appeared in law in 1928, wasn't standardised until 1961, and wasn't globally adopted under the Berne Convention until the 1970s/1980s, or later.) <https://thelaw.institute/copyright-and-related-rights/evolution-broadcast-definition-copyright-law/ https://thelaw.institute/copyright-and-related-rights/evolut...> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention#Adoption_and_implementation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention#Adoption_and_...>
- dierogeryoung 3mo ago
  [flagged]
- dredmorbius 3mo ago
  A flagged/dead reply notes a case of an unauthorised remake of a film getting wider distribution. The original, Skeem, was released in South Africa in 2011. The knock-off, John and John, was released in Ghana in 2017. The latter was unauthorised. The writer, director, and producer of the original, Tim Green, opted not to pursue infringement claims against Kofi Asamoah, who produced John and John, as the cost would not be worth any possible recovery. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeem> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_John https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_John> @dierogeryoung: I'm not sure why your comments are flagged/dead, but that's a likely outcome if you're using LLMs to write/edit your HN content, which is suggested by your history. See: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22336638 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22336638>, <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48136536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48136536>, and <https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated>.

devindotcom 3mo ago

Curious: edit for readability in what way? Surely just layout stuff, not changing the content of the books?

loloquwowndueo 3mo ago
I believe they’d change the spelling of a word if it’s archaic and obscure in the original text. https://standardebooks.org/about/what-makes-standard-ebooks-different https://standardebooks.org/about/what-makes-standard-ebooks-...