New life for old classics in 2019
Nearly a century ago, publisher Alfred A. Knopf released a slim book of spiritual fables by an obscure Lebanese-American poet and painter named Kahlil Gibran.
Knopf had modest expectations and printed around 1,500 copies. Much to his surprise, the book — titled “The Prophet” — took off. It became a huge hit, and went on to sell more than 9 million copies in North America alone.
Until now, the publishing house that bears Knopf ’s name has held the North American copyright on the title. But that will change Tuesday, when “The Prophet” enters the public domain, along with works by thousands of other artists and writers, including Marcel Proust, Willa Cather, D.H. Lawrence, Agatha Christie, Joseph Conrad, Edith Wharton, P.G. Wodehouse, Rudyard Kipling, Katherine Mansfield, Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens.
This coming year marks the first time in two decades that a large body of copyrighted works will lose their protected status — a shift that will have profound consequences for publishers and literary estates, which stand to lose money and creative control. But it will also be a boon for readers, who will have more editions from which to choose, and for writers and other artists who can create works based on classic stories.
“Consumers and readers are definitely going to benefit from this,” said Imke Reimers, an assistant professor of economics at Northeastern University who has studied the impact of copyright.
The sudden deluge of available works traces back to legislation Congress passed in 1998, which extended copyright protections by 20 years. The law reset the copyright term for works published from 1923 to 1977 — lengthening it from 75 years to 95 years after publication. Each January will bring a fresh crop of novels, plays, music and movies into the public domain.
Once books become part of the public domain, theater and film producers can adapt the works without having to secure rights. Rival publishing houses can issue new print editions, and scholars can publish new annotated versions. Free digital copies will circulate online.
“Eventually, these books belong to the people,” said James L.W. West III, a Fitzgerald scholar. “We can have new attempts to edit and reinterpret all of these iconic texts.”