Locking up Hemingway

Ann Bartow has drawn our attention to an article (registration required) in today's New York Times about an unpublished story by Hemingway that cannot see the light of day because the Hemingway Estate has forbidden publication. Ann reports that "This is of particular interest here at the U of South Carolina, because we possess a large number of Hemingway papers and had great ambitions about publishing them that got completely thwarted by the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). The South Carolina faculty member mentioned in the article [Matthew J. Bruccoli] has a special grudge against the CTEA that might be of interest. He basically planned his very life around the Hemingway papers, planning to devote his retirement years (right about now) to getting them into publication around the world. He spent many years and a lot of the University's money acquiring the papers to facilitate this. Now he probably won't even live long enough to see them reach the public domain. I wonder if people will still be as interested in Hemingway in 20 plus years, and what exactly the "estate" thinks it is accomplishing."

Prior to the passage of CTEA, Hemingway's unpublished works would have entered the public domain on 1 Jan. 2012 (1961 + 50 years). Now it won't happen until 1 Jan. 2032. If Hemingway had succeeded in publishing the story in 1924, the longest copyright term he could have expected would have expired in 1980. One really has to wonder how "the progress of science and the arts" is advanced by keeping works unavailable for over 50 years past the time the author hoped they would enter the public domain.

Comments

[Peter]

Jack and all, a correction: I wrote the editorial comments in the original post, not Mary. By mistake it got her authorship.

I assumed that Hemingway wanted his work to enter the public domain in 56 years because he tried to publish his essay. If he had succeeded, the longest copyright term he could have hoped for was 58 years. He may actually have been happy to have the term expire after 28 years, but I am going to assume that he felt that 56 years of monopoly rights was fair compensation for the act of creation. If he didn't, he wouldn't have tried to have the piece published.

Offering a work of art for sale, even it no one buys it, can constitute publication. I wonder if trying to have a work published could be construed as "offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution" - the current definition of publication? Could the story actually be "published"? I doubt it, but it is fun to speculate...

[Jack Stephens]

"the author" refers to Bruccoli, not Hemingway.

Brucolli is not mentioned in the paragraph that contains the term "author," and no mention is made of Brucolli having written anything.

Article IV of the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association reads, "We recognize and respect intellectual property rights."

[Raizel]

While we do not know what Hemingway would have wanted in regards to the public domain, he did intend to publish the story in Vanity Fair eighty years ago. If it had been published as intended, as Mary states, it would already be in the public domain now.

[Mary]

Thanks, Jack. Clarification: "the author" refers to Bruccoli, not Hemingway.

[Elizabeth Towsend]

This is such a great ex. of the myriad problems today. Sad tale. Interesting point re pub versus unpub. Is this pointing to a point that unpub should be required to meet c formalties as well (as some are seeking to bring back). Unpub and pub are just getting to an equal level (llfe +.70). Will we go back to a two tier system if they succeed?

[Jack Stephens]

keeping works unavailable for over 50 years past the time the author hoped they would enter the public domain.

Mary, I must have missed something. How do you know when Hemingway hoped his works would enter the public domain?