Upon The Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

SFFaudio News

Upon The Dull Earth, a wonderful novelet by Philip K. Dick, is public domain!

Upon The Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick (illustration by Vidmer)

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The story was first published in 1954, in a magazine called Beyond Fiction, in its 9th issue (Volume 2, Number 3).

The public domain status was not previously known as the story appeared to have been copyright renewed.

But, it was not.

Upon The Dull Earth Copyright Renewal Detail

Observe the highlighted details in the image above. Note that the story the applicant has claimed that the story was published in “March 1955”, in a magazine called “Beyond Science Fiction” in issue “10” (Volume “2” Number “4”).

No such magazine exists!

Beyond Fiction, aka Beyond Fantasy Fiction, was a sister publication to Galaxy Science Fiction, a long running SF pulp magazine. Beyond Fantasy Fiction (also titled Beyond Fiction) lasted only 10 issues. It was not created to compete with Galaxy, thus it was never titled “Beyond Science Fiction.” Its tenth issue was published in 1955, but it did not contain Upon The Dull Earth, or any other story by Philip K. Dick.

The story was actually published in the preceding issue, #9, in 1954. As such it would not have been eligible for renewal at the time of application.

Beyond Fiction Volume 2, Number 3, Issue #9 (1954) – Table Of Contents (includes Upon The Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick):
Beyond Fiction Volume 2 Number 3 Issue 9 - Table Of Contents (includes Upon The Dull Earth)

Beyond Fiction Volume 2, Number 4, Issue #10 (1955) – Table Of Contents:
Beyond Fantasy Fiction, Issue 10, Table Of Contents

Copyright renewal application RE190631 (aka RE 190-631 aka RE0000190631):

The complete RE190631 (aka RE 190-631 aka RE0000190631) can be looked at on the official US copyright catalog website by using RE0000190631 as the search string HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Philip K. Dick copyright renewal and registration scans

SFFaudio News

This post is a follow up to my “Philip K. Dick’s PUBLIC DOMAIN short stories, novelettes and novellas” post from August 25th, 2011. Since then I have received a number of scanned photocopies from the U.S. Copyright Office. These scans should be of great interest in the hunt for all of Philip K. Dick’s PUBLIC DOMAIN short stories. They show a number of anomalies and errors that bear upon the copyright status of many of Dick’s short stories, novellas and novelettes published between 1952 and 1963.

Stories that are referenced in the scans are noted above each image. I take the “RE” prefix to mean RENEWAL, and the “B” prefix is for an original copyright claim. These scans have also been added to the original post stories with the link labelled “COS” for copyright office scan.

RE220675 Page 1 (front):
RE220675 Page 1

RE220675 Page 1 (back) Pay For The Printer, A Glass Of Darkness, Vulcan’s Hammer, The Unreconstructed M, Misadjustment:
RE220675 Page 1 (back) - Pay For The Printer, A Glass Of Darkness, Vulcan's Hammer, The Unreconstructed M, Misadjustment

RE190631 Page 1 (front):
RE190631 Page 1 (front)

RE190631 Page 1 (back) War Veteran, Captive Market, The Mold Of Yancy, A Surface Raid, The Hood Maker, The Chromium Fence, Psi-Man Heal My Child:
RE190631 Page 1 (back)

RE190631 Page 2 (front) Nanny, Service Call, Autofac, Minority Report, To Serve The Master, The Father Thing, Foster, You’re Dead, The Golden Man:
RE190631 Page 2 (front) - Nanny, Service Call, Autofac, Minority Report, To Serve The Master, The Father Thing, Foster, You're Dead, The Golden Man

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:
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

RE190631 Page 3 (front) Souvenir, The Last Of The Masters, Upon The Dull Earth, Strange Eden, Jon’s World, The Turning Wheel, Human Is:
RE190631 Page 3 (front) Souvenir, The Last Of The Masters, Upon The Dull Earth, Strange Eden, Jon's World, The Turning Wheel, Human Is

RE190631 Page 3 (back):
RE190631 Page 3 (back)

RE115661 Page 1 (front):
RE115661 Page 1 (front)

RE115661 Page 1 (back) The Defenders, Mr. Spaceship, Piper In The Woods, Roog, The Infinites, Second Variety, The World She Wanted:
RE115661 Page 1 (back) The Defenders, Mr. Spaceship, Piper In The Woods, Roog, The Infinites, Second Variety, The World She Wanted

RE115661 Page 2 (front) Colony, The Cookie Lady, Impostor, Martians Come In Clouds, Paycheck, The Preserving Machine, The Cosmic Poachers, Expendable:
RE115661 Page 2 (front) Colony, The Cookie Lady, Impostor, Martians Come In Clouds, Paycheck, The Preserving Machine, The Cosmic Poachers, Expendable

RE115661 Page 2 (back) The Indefatigable Frog, The Commuter, Out In The Garden, The Great C, The King Of The Elves, The Trouble With Bubbles, The Variable Man, The Impossible Planet, Planet For Transients, Some Kinds Of Life, The Builder, The Hanging Stranger, Project Earth, The Eyes Have It, Tony And The Beetles:
RE115661 Page 2 (back) The Indefatigable Frog, The Commuter,  Out In The Garden, The Great C, The King Of The Elves, The Trouble With Bubbles, The Variable Man, The Impossible Planet, Planet For Transients, Some Kinds Of Life, The Builder, The Hanging Stranger, Project Earth, The Eyes Have It, Tony And The Beetles

B381157 Copyright registration for the November 1952 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes The Little Movement):
B381157 Copyright registration for the November 1952 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes The Little Movement)

B395238 Copyright registration for the February 1953 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes Roog):
B395238 Copyright registration for the February 1953 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes Roog)

RE68555 Page 1 (front) – Copyright renewal for the November 1952 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes The Little Movement):
RE68555 Page 1 (front) - Copyright renewal for the November 1952 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes The Little Movement):
RE68555 Page 1 (back):
RE68555 Page 1 (back)

RE68558 Page 1 (front) Copyright renewal for the February 1953 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes Roog):
RE68558 Page 1 (front) Copyright renewal for the February 1953 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (includes Roog)

RE68558 Page 1 (back):
RE68558 Page 1 (back)

Posted by Jesse Willis

Bill C-11 – Canada’s new copyright legislation

SFFaudio News

CBC.ca  - Tories Want To Wrap Copyright Law By Christmas

A September 29th, 2011 CBC.ca article entitled “Tories want to wrap copyright law by Christmas” garnered 596 comments in the 48 hours before comments were locked. The proposed legislation, now titled Bill C-11, appears to be an exact copy of the previously unpassable Bill C-32. The book burning provisions are just some of the new “rights” Bill C-11 offers:

-Copy content from one device to another, such as from a CD to a computer or an iPod. This provision, however, does not apply to content protected by a digital lock, which is any technological measure, such as encryption or digital signatures, that rights holders use to restrict access to or prevent the copying or playing of CDs, DVDs, e-books, digital files and other material.

-Record television, radio and internet broadcasts and listen to or view them later on whatever device they choose but not for the purposes of building up a library or for commercial use. This provision does not extend to content that is offered “on-demand” (streamed video, for example) or protected by a digital lock.

-Make a backup copy of content to protect against loss or damage — again unless that content is protected by a digital lock or offered as an on-demand service.

-Incorporate legally acquired copyrighted content into their own user-generated work, as long as it’s not for commercial gain and does not negatively impact the markets for the original material or the artist’s reputation. An example would be the posting of your own mash-up of a Lady Gaga song and, say, a Beyoncé number on YouTube.

-Use copyrighted content for the purposes of education, satire or parody. This expands what is known as the fair dealing provisions of the existing law — which until now covered only research, private study, criticism and news reporting.

-Copy copyrighted material that is part of an online or distance learning course in order to listen to or view it at a later time. Under this provision, teachers can provide digital copies of copyrighted material to students as part of the course but only if they and the students destroy the course material within 30 days of the end of the course. Teachers are also expected to take reasonable measures to prevent the copying and distribution of the material other than for the purposes of the course. Critics have referred to this part of the Act as the “bbook burning” provisions.

Ummm….aren’t we better off with the status quo?

The functions of VCRs and DVRs, we are told, have been illegal since their introductions in 1977 and 1999 respectively. I personally recorded thousands of hours off of TV with the half a dozen VCRs I’ve owned since the 1980s. Somehow TV still exists. Former Industry Minister Tony Clement’s iPod has 10,452 songs on it, “most of them transferred from CDs he bought” – we’re told that each such instance was an illegal act.

Funny that neither Clement nor I am in jail or being sued. Funnier still, nobody in Canada has been prosecuted for using their VCRs or DVRs to record TV shows. Nobody in Canada is being prosectued or sued for all of the stuff we’re being told is currently illegal. So how exactly are we better off if we change the law to make it easier to be sued and prosecuted?

Perhaps a glance at the official Bill C-32 talking points will give us an idea

Bonus: Here’s 22 Minutes take on Canadian Copyright Reform (circa 2009):

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #049

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #049 – Jesse and Scott talk about recent arrivals, new releases, audiobooks, podcasts and plenty more!

Talked about on today’s show:
SFFaudio.com is 7 years old, So I Married An Axe Murder, San Fransisco, California, Alcatraz, recent arrivals, Brilliance Audio, military SF, Fearless: The Lost Fleet Book 2 by Jack Campbell, space opera, Gene Roddenberry‘s Andromeda, Buck Rogers, Live Free or Die: book 1 in the Troy Rising series by John Ringo, Paperback Digital, Cally’s War by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane |READ OUR REVIEW|, John Ringo can give his books away and sell books too, Time’s Eye: A Time Odyssey Book 1 by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, it’s not a sequel it’s an “othrquel“, time is orthogonal to space (in relativity theory), Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, benevolent aliens, malevolent aliens, H.P. Lovecraft, The Eternal Wall by Raymond Z. Gallun, LibriVox, Gregg Margarite, time travel, Blackstone Audio, Identity Theft by Robert J. Sawyer, Mars, consciousness uploading/downloading, Treason by Orson Scott Card, A Planet Called Treason by Orson Scott Card, Stefan Rudnicki, Spider Robinson, Melancholy Elephants by Spider Robinson |READ OUR REVIEW|, copyright, copyfight, the philosophy of art, The Graveyard Book |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, Harry Potter, The Dark Is Rising, A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, ripping off Heinlein is legit when you are Spider Robinson, Friday by Robert A. Heinlein, new releases, Wonder Audio, The Men Return & Worlds Of Origin by Jack Vance, Brilliance Audio, The Songs Of Dying Earth: Stories In Honor Of Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, The Book Of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe, David D. Levine, Tk’Tk’Tk’ by David D. Levine, The Moon Moth by Jack Vance |READ OUR REVIEW|, Suldrun’s Garden, The Green Pearl, Madouc by Jack Vance, Swimming Kangaroo Books, Need For Magic by Joseph Swope, BBC Audiobooks America, Great Classic Science Fiction: Eight Unabridged Stories, Forgotten Classics podcast talks James Gunn’s The Road To Science Fiction series, paperback book bags, A Game Of Thrones coming to HBO, A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin |READ OUR REVIEW|, Roy Dotrice, John Lee, Shogun (the TV miniseries), FlashForward, Stephen King’s Storm Of The Century, 1408, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Steve, The First by Matt Watts |READ OUR REVIEW|, @ the CBC store, radio drama, post apocalypse, humor, Canadia: 2056 |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Hitch-hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane, Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Robert E. Howard, The Iliad, Ralph Macchio, Red Shadows by Robert E. Howard, religion, Solomon Kane, The Punisher.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Melancholy Elephants by Spider Robinson

SFFaudio Review

Yet another story in SFFaudio’s 7th Anniversary Carnival of Characters!

Science Fiction Audiobook - Melancholy Elephants by Spider RobinsonMelancholy Elephants
By Spider Robinson; Read by Spider Robinson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Spider on the Web
Published: 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Art / Copyright / Human Mind / Mathematics /

The moment I realized that copyright was at the center of the story, I thought: Jesse would love this. I’m fairly certain he’s read it, though. There can’t be a lot of fiction where copyright plays a part, and besides; Spider Robinson is one of his favorites.

A law to extend copyright is proposed, and Dorothy, an artist, visits a Senator in future Washington to persuade him to vote against. The story is not dry exposition about law. It’s about art, the human mind, mathematics, and the universe. A lot to pack into 34 minutes, for certain, and it did leave me feeling melancholy, like the elephants.

It’s important to note that this story won a Hugo Award in 1983, long before copyright ran headlong into the digital age. “Melancholy Elephants” stands beside other great science fiction stories that so clearly saw the future coming.

The story was read by Spider Robinson as part of his Spider on the Web podcast.

Here’s the podcast feed: http://www.spiderrobinson.com/iTunes_feed.xml

And |HERE| is a direct link to the episode with “Melanchoy Elephants”.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson