https://doctorow.medium.com/poe-vs-property-ef918f1724f3
"In 1841,
Graham’s Magazine published Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The
Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and, in so doing, created the modern detective
story genre.
The story was published at a pivotal moment for copyright: only a decade
earlier, Congress passed the Copyright Act of 1831, extending US copyright to
foreign authors for the first time in US history.
1841 was also the year that a Massachusetts court ruled
Folsom v. Marsh, the
first “fair use” case in US copyright history, finding that using someone
else’s copyrighted work was fair when it served a public purpose and didn’t
unduly burden the original rightsholder.
Poe’s story was eligible for 28 years of copyright from the moment he set the
words down on paper, and moreover, Poe was entitled to renew that copyright for
another 14 years at the end of the term (he didn’t get to exercise this
privilege because he died a mere eight years after the publication of
“Murders”).
But Poe’s incredible act of imagination — creating detective fiction itself —
was not eligible for copyright. Anyone could write a story about a detective
solving a mystery. Many did. They still do."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
