copyfight – Page 3

Breakfast At Twilight by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

SFFaudio News

Breakfast At Twilight by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN!

This was not previously known do to copyright fraud on the part of the Philip K. Dick estate.

In the early 1980s a number of Philip K. Dick’s short stories were claimed as a eligible for renewal under the law. But a close comparison between the actual publications in the magazines, and the copyright renewal forms used (which required notation of first publication) has turned up dozens of discrepancies.

Breakfast At Twilight is another of these fraudulent renewals.

Breakfast At Twilight was first published in the July 1954 issue of Amazing Stories. But the Dick estate claimed the story was first published in the July 1955 issue of Amazing Stories. Here is the relevant page Copyright Office renewal document:

RE190631 Page 2 (back) Prominent Author, Progeny, Exhibit Piece, Shell Game, A World Of Talent, James P. Crow, Small Town, Survey Team, Sales Pitch, Time Pawn, Breakfast At Twilight, The Crawlers, Of Withered Apples, Adjustment Team, Meddler

It was not published in that issue, as can be shown HERE (a list detailing the contents of that issue).

As more proof I offer a photograph of the table of contents of from the July 1954 issue of Amazing Stories (it shows the true first publication of Breakfast At Twilight):

Amazing Stories, July 1954 table of contents (includes Breakfast At Twilight by Philip K. Dick)

Because Breakfast At Twilight was not renewed within it’s 28th year it is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Here is a |PDF| made from a reprint in Fantastic, November 1966. Please note the of the 1954 copyright on that printing too.

An |ETEXT| is also online.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Survey Team by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

SFFaudio News

Survey Team by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

This fact was not previously known due to a falsification on a copyright renewal notice.

Survey Team was first published in Fantastic Universe, May 1954.

Here is the table of contents from Fantastic Universe, May 1954:

Table of contents from Fantastic Universe May 1954

But copyright renewal form submitted by “Laura Coelho, Christopher Dick & Isa Dick” (RE0000190631) states that the story was published in the May 1955 (Volume 3 Number 4) of the same magazine.

ISFDB.org has a listing of the table of contents of Fantastic Universe, May 1955 HERE.

Note that it does not contain any stories by Philip K. Dick.

Survey Team by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Here is a |PDF| made from the publication in Fantastic Universe, May 1954.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: Downpour.com – an audiobook delivery system that just works

SFFaudio Commentary

Downpour.com, Blackstone Audio’s online audiobook store, is a genuine competitor to Audible.com.

It offers audiobook downloads of titles, from Blackstone Audio’s extensive catalogue, and also those from many other audiobook publishers like Recorded Books, Harper Audio, Penguin Audio, Hachette Audio, and AudioGo.

Their subscription service is almost identically priced to Audible’s, each offers one credit per month for about $15. And, like an Audible credit Audible.com, a Downpour credit almost always gets you one audiobook.

I signed up for Downpour when they started late last Summer. And so far, I really, really like it.

I’ve had an account with Audible.com since 2001. But Audbile.com has always caused one giant problem for me: DRM.

DRM is actually designed to prevent you sharing your audiobook with your friends and family.

But worse, it can also make it difficult for you, the owner of the audiobook that you bought, to actually listen to what you have paid for.

Over the years I’ve spent countless hours trying to make an audiobook, that I bought, play on my audiobook players.

Every single time I’ve bought a new computer, iPod, iPad, or iPhone I’ve spent time authorizing and deauthorizing my devices. Sometimes it just takes a couple of minutes, sometimes hours.

Audible’s DRM makes you have to authorize your iTunes account, and your computer, and your iPhone, and your iPad, and your iPod. And you have to deauthorize your old devices to make the new devices work. You can’t have all of your devices authorized if you have more than three.

I just want my audiobooks to work like regular books, I want them to open up and give me their ideas. DRM cripples your ability to do that.

Downpour.com has no DRM at all. It just works.

In fact it works absolutely perfectly.

You make a purchase, it shows up in your online library, and then it downloads and delivers itself to your devices.

It is smoother than any audiobook service I’ve ever seen. It’s even smoother than Tantor Media’s excellent DRM-FREE download service.

If you use an iOS device for an audiobook, like I do, I’m betting Downpour.com is will work for you.

If you use a different audiobook player Downpour offers MP3s, which work with every audio player.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Surprisingly Free: interview with Jason Mazzone about Copyfraud

SFFaudio Online Audio

Jason Mazzone, author of Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law, was interviewed by Jerry Brito for the Suprisingly Free podcast last March.

|MP3|

This makes for a good primer on why copyfraud, the false claiming ownership over public domain, is so awful.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

SFFaudio News

The Golden Man, a novelette by Philip K. Dick, is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

This was not previously known due to a falsification on a copyright renewal form (RE190631) that asserted the story was first published in 1955. It was actually published in 1954.

The Golden Man illustration by Frank Kelly Freas

Here is a |PDF| made from a scan of the original publication in IF Worlds Of Science Fiction. There is also an ETEXT version online.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: My letter to Gottfrid Svartholm Warg (co-founder of The Pirate Bay)

SFFaudio Commentary

In response to a post on the front page of The Pirate Bay this morning…

TPB, Call for letters

…I’ve just written a letter to Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, the co-founder of the torrent site The Pirate Bay. Gottfrid, who is at this moment languishing and incarcerated in a Swedish prison, is to me a prisoner of censorship (though the traditional word for it is probably political prisoner).

Among other things my letter relates of the good TPB has done for me, and countless other downloaders. I specifically point out an audio drama that was unjustifiably trampled by an evil corporation that claimed a violation of their trademark.

I wanted Gottfrid to know that his efforts to make TPB were appreciated. In my letter I also compare TPB to my public library, tell him about some of my current projects, and express my frustration with the current copyright climate.

Letter to Gottfrid Svartholm Warg

Posted by Jesse Willis