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I was on abebooks looking at different copies of hunter thompdon’s Book hell’s Angels. It was originally published by random House in 1967 but at least as soon as 1972 it was coming out with differentbcovers and under other publisher names. Later versions look like mom and pop publishers I’ve never heard of.
Can anyone explain how this works? The publisher owns the book right—-they pay the advance and maybe royalties so it is their property. And the domain law is 100 years or something for books? After the initial few runs do they start licensing it to other publishers?
Last edited by madison999; 12-06-2017 at 08:02 AM..
The publisher doesn't buy all rights, the author usually retains copyright.
Publishers may buy rights to publish first, or in a specific country, or for a specified length of time.
Further, the publisher may sell their rights to another.
It sounds to me that the copy rights on the book expired and none of ,Thompson's survivors renewed them.
So that book went into public domain, and any publisher can now print an edition.
Back in 1967 when the book was first published, the copy right laws were different then. An author was given copy rights for 25 years, and that was it. After 25 years, the book went into public domain. (Along with motion pictures, songs, plays, musicals, and other intellectual properties that didn't include inventions. Inventions went to the patent office, where different laws applied.)
That changed in the early 1990s when Mickey Mouse's copy rights were about to expire and Mickey would go into public domain. lThe Disney Corporation could never allow that to happen, so they got the copy right laws radically changed and extended in the time limits.
Thompson was still alive then, but must have neglected to use the law to protect his older works. He could have used the law, but Hunter S. Thompson could have used a lot of things he didn't use. He liked to do things his way.
That included shooting one of his wives wife once. So not renewing a copy right comes as no big surprise to me.
Publishers often sell publishing rights. Often, the hardcover publisher will sell paperback rights. Rights to a book club edition might be sold. Foreign rights are typically sold. And so forth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by banjomike
It sounds to me that the copy rights on the book expired and none of ,Thompson's survivors renewed them.
So that book went into public domain, and any publisher can now print an edition.
Back in 1967 when the book was first published, the copy right laws were different then. An author was given copy rights for 25 years, and that was it. After 25 years, the book went into public domain. (Along with motion pictures, songs, plays, musicals, and other intellectual properties that didn't include inventions. Inventions went to the patent office, where different laws applied.)
That changed in the early 1990s when Mickey Mouse's copy rights were about to expire and Mickey would go into public domain. lThe Disney Corporation could never allow that to happen, so they got the copy right laws radically changed and extended in the time limits.
Thompson was still alive then, but must have neglected to use the law to protect his older works. He could have used the law, but Hunter S. Thompson could have used a lot of things he didn't use. He liked to do things his way.
That included shooting one of his wives wife once. So not renewing a copy right comes as no big surprise to me.
Actually, when Hell's Angels was published the term of copyright was 28 years, per the Copyright Act of 1909. This was renewable for a second 28-year-term. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 changed the copyright landscape, effective January 1, 1978. The length of the renewal term was changed to 47 years for those works copyrighted before that date. The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended this renewal term to 67 years. These extensions were retroactive to extensions on works that were then in place. This is why The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, won't fall into the public domain until 2046 (a 28-year initial copyright, which Salinger renewed for another 47 years before it expired in 1979, which Congress then changed to 67 years. Furthermore, in 1992 Congress made renewal automatic - copyright holders no longer had to register it. Since this was before the initial 28-year copyright term for Hell's Angels expired, Thompson needed to take no action.
The copyright on Hell's Angels won't expire until 2061. Of course, if Congress extends copyrights again it might not expire even then!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton
How prevalent it is for traditional publishers to later re-publish a book that was initially self-published?
It is not prevalent. In fact, self-publishing a work makes it very unlikely you'll ever find a traditional agent or publisher for it. The only exception to this, and it is an extremely rare one, is when a self-published work actually sells well into the five figures.
Publishers often sell publishing rights. Often, the hardcover publisher will sell paperback rights. Rights to a book club edition might be sold. Foreign rights are typically sold. And so forth.
Actually, when Hell's Angels was published the term of copyright was 28 years, per the Copyright Act of 1909. This was renewable for a second 28-year-term. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 changed the copyright landscape, effective January 1, 1978. The length of the renewal term was changed to 47 years for those works copyrighted before that date. The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended this renewal term to 67 years. These extensions were retroactive to extensions on works that were then in place. This is why The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, won't fall into the public domain until 2046 (a 28-year initial copyright, which Salinger renewed for another 47 years before it expired in 1979, which Congress then changed to 67 years. Furthermore, in 1992 Congress made renewal automatic - copyright holders no longer had to register it. Since this was before the initial 28-year copyright term for Hell's Angels expired, Thompson needed to take no action.
The copyright on Hell's Angels won't expire until 2061. Of course, if Congress extends copyrights again it might not expire even then!
It is not prevalent. In fact, self-publishing a work makes it very unlikely you'll ever find a traditional agent or publisher for it. The only exception to this, and it is an extremely rare one, is when a self-published work actually sells well into the five figures.
Just want to echo the bolded. Self-pubbing is great for recipe books, poetry, family histories and niche markets with a built-in audience (therapists/hucksters/entrepreneurs) and anyone who simply wants a bound copy of their story.
But if a writer is serious about their craft and believes their work has appeal to a reasonably widespread demographic, they should exhaust all possibilities of traditional publication before going the selfie route.
Publishers often sell publishing rights. Often, the hardcover publisher will sell paperback rights. Rights to a book club edition might be sold. Foreign rights are typically sold. And so forth.
Actually, when Hell's Angels was published the term of copyright was 28 years, per the Copyright Act of 1909. This was renewable for a second 28-year-term. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 changed the copyright landscape, effective January 1, 1978. The length of the renewal term was changed to 47 years for those works copyrighted before that date. The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended this renewal term to 67 years. These extensions were retroactive to extensions on works that were then in place. This is why The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, won't fall into the public domain until 2046 (a 28-year initial copyright, which Salinger renewed for another 47 years before it expired in 1979, which Congress then changed to 67 years. Furthermore, in 1992 Congress made renewal automatic - copyright holders no longer had to register it. Since this was before the initial 28-year copyright term for Hell's Angels expired, Thompson needed to take no action.
The copyright on Hell's Angels won't expire until 2061. Of course, if Congress extends copyrights again it might not expire even then!
It is not prevalent. In fact, self-publishing a work makes it very unlikely you'll ever find a traditional agent or publisher for it. The only exception to this, and it is an extremely rare one, is when a self-published work actually sells well into the five figures.
Thanks for correcting my post. It's been a long time, and I forgot some of the important details.
But I'm not sure the new law automatically renewed and re-set all the copyrights' time limits. To my knowledge, renewal was easy to obtain, but had to be requested.
But, for sure, any major publishing house with a book by an author as popular as Hunter Thompson would have requested renewal, I'm sure, if there was any way they could do it.
With so much that's changing in the publication business these days, it could be likely that selling the rights to one of Thompson's lesser- prized works was an easy little cash cow, especially if there were no plans at all to publish a new edition.
Selling the rights to a new edition of an old book is something I don't know much about, so if I'm wrong on any/all this stuff, I don't mind being corrected.
It is very, very rare for a publisher to own a book's copyright.
Copyright and publication rights are two very different things.
When I sell a story to a publisher, they buy particular rights -- usually first publication rights. That means they can publish it first. The contract usually has an end date when they no longer have access to those rights. They're renting the book, so to speak.
I still retain reprint rights, film rights, foreign language rights, etc. And when the time period specified in the contract is up, I can resell publication rights again.
It really has nothing to do with copyright. That stays with the creator unless it is a ghostwriting situation.
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