Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Take What You Want From Sherwood Forest

Dear Rich: I am writing a historical fantasy novel, and I want to incorporate elements from Henry Gilbert's Robin Hood (1911). Despite the publication date, I can't tell if this book is in the US public domain. It appears to have been only published in the UK, and I've seen evidence the copyright was renewed in the 30's. I have a recent UK copy of the book, and it has no copyright notice. But the book is also not in Google Books or Gutenberg, which leads me to believe it's still under US copyright.
 
Like Robin Hood, copyright law takes from the rich and gives to the poor.  Because it was published prior to 1928, Henry Gilbert's Robin Hood is in the U.S. public domain where it can be reproduced or modified without permission. The book is available from the Internet Archives and is preserved by Google Books as part of its public domain project.

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