Category Archives: copyright

Harvard geologist Kirtley F. Mather was an activist for academic freedom (advocating for teaching evolution and against faculty loyalty oaths) and president of Promoting Enduring Peace. Kennard B. Bork writes in GSA Today that he had a “deep belief in … Continue reading →

“…Saw you not at the beginning of evening the antlered buck and his doeStanding in the apple-orchard? I saw them. I saw them suddenly go… …Now lies he here, his wild blood scalding the snow.” The title poem of Edna … Continue reading →

Copyrights weren’t often renewed on advertisements, but a few were for various reasons. Deward and Rich renewed many of their “Miss Flora” ads after a court battle over a local florist reusing them without permission. Sometimes objectors to ads also … Continue reading →

In Sydney Fowler Wright’s Deluge, earthquakes and floods destroy most of civilization, but a small population in England survives. The post-apocalyptic novel is as much about criticizing present-day society as it is about the future society it depicts. A film … Continue reading →

After Rose Sellars’ husband dies, she and Martin Boyne can finally appropriately act on their feelings for each other. But while en route to meet with his now-fiancée, Martin finds himself inappropriately attracted to someone else. The Children “is not … Continue reading →

Curmudgeonly British writer Evelyn Waugh published his first novel, Decline and Fall, in 1928. Reviewing it in 2008, Alex Larman found it “surely one of the greatest debut comic novels of the last century”, and wondered why it had never … Continue reading →

Mickey Mouse isn’t the only franchise character joining the public domain soon. In 1928, Singapore-born Leslie Charteris introduced the gentleman criminal Simon Templar, aka The Saint. Charteris published dozens of stories with the Robin Hood-like character. The Saint was also … Continue reading →

Disney celebrates Mickey Mouse’s birthday today, the 95th anniversary of the release of Steamboat Willie. Myles Burke writes how the success of the synchronized-sound cartoon saved the studio and paved the way for more ambitious animated films. In 44 days, … Continue reading →

Virginia Woolf’s Orlando depicts the title character’s transitions through multiple centuries and genders. Nearly a century after it was first published, it continues to have a vibrant and varied life. Joanna Scutts says it “laid the groundwork for today’s cultural … Continue reading →