The Robinson-Clare dispute hasn't to do with the 'passing on' of
copyright. Robinson has claimed copyright on the Clare texts which he
has established by going back to the original manuscripts, fair copies
etc. A similar situation exists with the Coleridge notebooks &
presumably many other re-established or recovered texts by authors long
dead. The legal situation, then, is a peculiar working out of a question
which occurs first in lit crit/theory re the relative authority of
manuscript & printed edition. It's working out in other ways too; there
are e.g. two distinct Shelley oeuvres by now, one you can buy for a few
quid in any Waterstones & the one you'll pay a fortune for from Garland.
Ditto Clare substituting OUP for Garland. The anomaly of Robinson's
position is that his project ostensibly seeks to recover Clare from the
ravages of previous editors & publishers, particularly Taylor & Blunden;
this looks like a healthy liberation ... until Robinson claims that the
best-established texts belong to him. Presumably we can all publish a
corrupt text if we choose.
None of this has anything to do with use of texts in collage.
Cessation of copyright at author's death looks like a good idea but
presumably the idea originally was to protect the interests of authors'
dependents. The extension from 50 to 75 years, however, probably has
more to do with corporate interests than the increased longevity of
authors' widow/ers.
James seems to be amused by the (c) in small press books because he's
never seen anything in them he'd like to nick. That's a bit sad, really:
reading the wrong books, perhaps? The point, though, is partly to
protect reprint rights, particularly in anthologies: nice to think that
years later you've got a claim to be paid for work done, yes? Galling on
the other hand to find work used without request, notification, payment
or even a free copy.
Maybe Alaric's right that internet publishing will break down the
current copyright situation. A return, perhaps, to the early 18th C when
anyone might see hisher work appearing in a corrupt text with a pirate's
name, H.Hills or whoever, on the title page. Okay, Pope Swift & Co had
some fun with it but ....
--
Alan Halsey
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