Rights of series in public domain?

You're going to need more specificity here. There are various "rights". An example:

A number of early Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, including the original classic Tarzan of the Apes have long since lapsed into public domain, by U.S. copyright statutes, but the characters (notably the ApeMan his own self) are trademarked, and remain under that protection. You can, therefore, reprint freely Tarzan of the Apes and a number of other sequels, but you cannot legally write a new novel invoking the character of Tarzan, without obtaining permission of the trademark rights holders. I believe a similar situation exists with Sherlock Holmes, and Fu Manchu.

When you talk about a "series" in public domain, you need to be sure both the entire series of books AND the characters involved are really unprotected by copyrights and trademarks. E.R. Eddison's quirky classic fantasy series is another interesting example: the first novel, The Worm Ouroboros is in public domain in the U.S., but the subsequent volumes are not. AND, you need to be aware that copyright statutes vary between the U.S. and the E.U. (and Canada and Australia, as well). It's a complicated matter.

So, what work are you talking about?

caw

I don't know too many series' that are in the public domain. Some, like the eternally popular Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, have been resurrected and republished, and are copyrighted within an inch of their lives. Many others probably aren't old enough yet, or may still be owned by the descendants of the author.

I guess I would say, it has been done before. If you don't mind the fact that it's essentially fanfic, and if you've established beyond any shadow of a legal doubt that the work is public domain, then you can probably pursue the project. I imagine you'll be in better legal territory if the books were printed a hundred years ago or more.

As far as legality goes, I notice it's becoming quite the done thing to rip off Jane Austen for a zombie novel.


P.S. Ooh, good point about character trademarks!

Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain.

BigWords said:

Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain.

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Conan Doyle's original stories are, by copyright statutes, both in the U.S. and E.U. There seems to be some question about the characters, however, regarding trademarks. I'd actually like to have someone with knowledge of the latter comment here.

caw

People are constantly writing new Sherlock Holmes stories. Hundreds, at least.

The biggest question about something being in the public domain is will anyone be interested? And are you positive that the series is in the public domain?

blacbird said:

Conan Doyle's original stories are,

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And not all of them, as far as I know. Some of the later ones are still covered.

veinglory said:

And not all of them, as far as I know. Some of the later ones are still covered.

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This is correct; I was slightly mistaken. The last volume or so of Doyle's Holmes work (The Casebook, I believe, and perhaps a few more), were published in the U.S. after 1922, and therefore are still under copyright protection. All the pre-1922 stuff is in public domain in the States. E.U. (and, by that default, U.K.) statutes differ, and Canade and Aussie statutes differ even differently.

caw