# Copyright status of the Little House books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459 "2010-11-30T21:04:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/1 "2010-11-30T21:04:25Z")
As I understand it, a work is copyrighted for 50 years after the author’s death. I would expect that after that period of time, a book would be fair game for [gutenberg.org](http://gutenberg.org) and other free etext websites. I love the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have read my “real” copies of them until they have fallen apart. Rather than buy new physical versions, I’d like to have e-versions of them. Laura Ingalls Wilder died in 1957, so it seems like the books would have come into the public domain in 2007. But there aren’t any etext versions. Maybe her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, who died in 1968, is considered to be the author of the books even though she generally isn’t listed? Does anyone know what’s going on? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/2 "2010-11-30T21:19:17Z")
What is going on is that your understanding is flawed. U.S. works written under the Copyright Act of 1909 were, if properly marked and registered, protected for 28 years, at which time the owner could renew for an additional 28 year term. But works that were under protection when the '76 Act came into effect (1/1/78, IIRC) were granted an additional 19 years of the copyright term, and then the Bono Act in, what, '98?, gave them yet another 20 year term. So material created after 1923, so long as it was properly registered and marked and, if created before 1950, was renewed for the second term, is still under copyright today. Works created after the '76 Act were subject to the life + 50 years term (or 75 years flat for corporately created works), which was increased to life + 70/95 years flat by the Bono Act. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/3 "2010-11-30T21:20:08Z")
The first of her books, _Little House in the Big Woods_, was first published in 1932 – which I believe means it and the rest are all subject to “life of the author + 70 years” rule (in the U.S.). (See the [Copyright Term Extension Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act).) So the first book will enter the public domain in 2027 at the earliest. But probably **Exapno Mapcase** or **ascenray** will be along to give better answers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/4 "2010-11-30T21:24:36Z")
My admittedly faulty recollection of copyright is that as long as there is an heir or estate, copyright for a work can be renewed/passed down. According to [this](http://www.boerner.net/jboerner/?p=8060) site, Rose Wilder Lane designated a man named Roger MacBride as her heir, and he thus became the copyright owner. It appears that MacBride died in 1995 and [left the estate to his daughter](http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-17606569/little-house-provides-big.html) (just an article snip unless you have a subscription). Sooo…my suspicion is you’ll be waiting while for free etext versions. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/5 "2010-11-30T21:36:53Z")
I think these works, being post-1923 works but pre-1978 works, are protected for 95 years from the date of publication. But don’t hold me to that. Calculating copyright terms for pre-1978 works always confuses me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/6 "2010-11-30T21:41:37Z")
Here’s the [handy-dandy chart](http://scrivenerserror.com/c-term.shtml) of when works go into the public domain. [Termination status is for the copyright owner only. It does not affect public domain date.] And [here’s a list of the books’ publication dates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_on_the_Prairie#Wilder.27s_Little_House_books). So the first seven books were published between 1932 and 1941, giving them a P + 95 years until they become public domain. The first one doesn’t enter public domain until January 1, 1927. The eighth book, from 1943, also has a 95 year life. The posthumous books have a variety of lengths. Therefore, none of the original books are subject to the time of the author’s death rule. Ownership of copyright can be sold or bequeathed. However, neither changes the length of time of copyright. It merely indicates who is in charge of making decisions about the work. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/7 "2010-11-30T22:40:05Z")
And obviously whoever’s in charge has made the idiotic decision to not sell e-versions of them. Grrrrrrr. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/8 "2010-11-30T23:54:55Z")
It’s very possible that [Project Gutenberg Australia](http://gutenberg.net.au/)will mount the Little House books online long before the U.S. copyright expires. They have done with \*Gone With the Wind \*, _The Great Gatsby_, and _Animal Farm_ among other books that are still copyright protected in the U.S. but public domain in other nations. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/9 "2010-12-01T02:06:57Z")
I was reading Allison “Nellie Olsen” Angram’s book _Confessions of a Prairie Bitch_ (a great read, if you had any interest in the show you will love this book) and in it she said, that Michael Landon could only buy the rights to some of the books and not others so that is why they had to change storylines away from the books. So I wonder if one person holds the rights to all the books or what ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/10 "2010-12-01T02:25:36Z")
Actually **Marxxx** , IIRC Ed Friendly owned the TV rights to the books and he partnered with Landon on the series. Then Ed and Mike had a falling out and Ed kept the rights covering Laura’s life from about age 16 on which left Mike to make shit up for the series. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/11 "2010-12-01T03:08:40Z")
According to the Copyright database, **Little House in the Big Woods** (the first in the series) had its copyright renewed in 1953. That would put it under copyright when the law was changed. That means its copyright extends 95 years from the original publication in 1932. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/12 "2010-12-01T04:07:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It’s very possible that [Project Gutenberg Australia](http://gutenberg.net.au/)will mount the Little House books online long before the U.S. copyright expires. They have done with \*Gone With the Wind \*, _The Great Gatsby_, and _Animal Farm_ among other books that are still copyright protected in the U.S. but public domain in other nations. Here’s what they say about [Australian copyright law](http://gutenberg.net.au/newsandreviews.html#a14). > [@](#): > > Information Sheet G85 states: > > "Duration of copyright generally. The period of protection for most material that was still protected by copyright when the amendments came into effect has been extended. In general, material that was previously protected for the life of the creator plus 50 years is now protected for life plus 70 years, and material that was previously protected for 50 years from first publication is protected for 70 years from the end of the year of first publication. > > “No revival of copyright under the AUSFTA amendments. The extended periods of protection only apply to material that was still protected by copyright on 1 January 2005, or created on or after that date. There has been no revival of copyright in material which was in the public domain by that date.” > > This means that, with regard to books, all material in the public domain as at midnight on 31 December 2004 will remain in the public domain. For example, Miles Franklin died in 1954. Her book My Brilliant Career entered the public domain at midnight on 31 December 2004. It remains in the public domain. Works published by authors who died in or after 1955 will now remain in copyright until midnight on 31 December 2025 at the earliest. Since Ingalls died in 1957, 70 years from her death would be 2027. So her first book would not go into public domain any sooner, but the other seven would presumably become available then, assuming no further change in their law. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/13 "2010-12-01T20:35:24Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I was reading Allison “Nellie Olsen” Angram’s book _Confessions of a Prairie Bitch_ (a great read, if you had any interest in the show you will love this book) Hijack: I totally loved that book. I’d recommend it not just to fans of the TV series but fans of good memoirs involving the 1970s/1980s. (Makes you really really hate her brother though.) Anybody who can write about being sexually abused _AND_ make you laugh on the same page has talent. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Here’s what they say about [Australian copyright law](http://gutenberg.net.au/newsandreviews.html#a14). > Since Ingalls died in 1957, 70 years from her death would be 2027. So her first book would not go into public domain any sooner, but the other seven would presumably become available then, assuming no further change in their law. Bugger. If she’d died at a more reasonable 80 then she’d already be up there. It’s weird with authors like her and Twain and Mitchell that they still generate income so many years later for people they never knew and aren’t even closely related to (no relation at all in the case of Twain and Ingalls-Wilder; for Mitchell it’s her brother’s descendants). ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/14 "2010-12-01T23:45:10Z")
Not that anyone cares, but I so better get Arngrim’s book for Christmas. I’ve been hinting pretty hard. If we hadn’t had the crazy year we had, I would have bought it awhile back, but whatever. I met Arngrim once, when visiting the Wilder home in Missouri. She was hilarious in her talk, and also really personable to talk to. It’s one of the moments I’ll always remember, I think, because she came to us instead of the other way around. A friend of mine and I were just relaxing on the grounds of the house, at a picnic bench, and Arngrim was surrounded by autograph seekers. One by one they all left and she was alone at her table, walked over to us, and said “Hi, I’m Allison, mind if I join you?” Then sat and talked to us for awhile, until people started showing up again. This was right before she got married, so was asking us all about our weddings, and, as none of us had children, discussing the possibility and when we all wanted to start. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/15 "2010-12-02T23:25:16Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Calculating copyright terms for pre-1978 works always confuses me. Well, as long as Congress stays on the ball, it should be easy. Anything currently under copyright will always be under copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/16 "2010-12-02T23:45:33Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Well, as long as Congress stays on the ball, it should be easy. Anything currently under copyright will always be under copyright. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/17 "2010-12-03T00:22:30Z")
The Little House books are on [mobileread](http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=132) (I guess they’re in the public domain in Canada?) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-status-of-the-little-house-books/562459/18 "2010-12-03T01:54:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > :rolleyes: Well, why is it that the length of time keeps increasing, if not because Congress is allowing big businesses to buy extra time?