# Poe: Public domain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368 "2008-01-21T13:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/1 "2008-01-21T13:32:39Z")
Are the works of Edgar Allan Poe in the public domain? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/2 "2008-01-21T13:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Are the works of Edgar Allan Poe in the public domain? [/QUOTE] Yes, as far as I know. Anything published prior to 01/01/1923 in the US is out of copyright, which includes all of Mr. Poe’s works. Otherwise, it’s “Life of the Author Plus 70 Years” as the copyright term in the US, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/3 "2008-01-21T13:41:58Z")
A good (though by no means exhaustive) check of this is to check Project Gutenberg, at [gutenberg.org](http://gutenberg.org). If it’s there, it’s in the public domain in the US. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/4 "2008-01-21T18:12:54Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Yes, as far as I know. Anything published prior to 01/01/1923 in the US is out of copyright, which includes all of Mr. Poe’s works. Otherwise, it’s “Life of the Author Plus 70 Years” as the copyright term in the US, IIRC. [/QUOTE] It’s much more complicated than that for older works in the U.S.. See [this copyright chart](http://www.authorslawyer.com/c-term.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/5 "2008-01-21T19:00:28Z")
So according to the chart, anything before 1923 is in the public domain? Am I reading that right? That would open a lot of H.P Lovecraft. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/6 "2008-01-21T19:14:09Z")
I just went to Google Books and downloaded a .pdf of _Tales of Mystery and Imagination_. They have a number of other works from him as well. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/7 "2008-01-21T19:15:08Z")
Some editions of public-domain material may still be under copyright, at least with respect to added front and back matter, annotations, illustrations and so forth. The basic text will be public domain, however. Just watch what you use. Robin ---
**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:** [January 21, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/8 "2008-01-21T20:04:02Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] So according to the chart, anything before 1923 is in the public domain? Am I reading that right? That would open a lot of H.P Lovecraft. [/QUOTE] Yes, everything prior to 1923. You can get a complete (I think) bibliography at the [Internet Speculative Fiction Database](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?H._P._Lovecraft). ETA. I typoed that as Internet Speculation Diction Database. What possibilities that opens up! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poe-public-domain/434368/9 "2008-01-21T20:35:51Z")
Why do you think Roger Corman made so many Poe adaptations? 😛