The Tower Treasure (Book 1) - paperback

[Raven]

I saw this book on Amazon. It's going to be published in June 2022 by Dover Publications. I couldn't tell if it is OT or RT.

[tomswift2002]

It might be the Original text.  In the US 2022 is the 95th anniversary of The Tower Treasure, The House On The Cliff & The Secret of the Old Mill being published. (So this upcoming Saturday, January 1, those books enter the US public domain.)  The revised texts are still in under copyright in the US until 2054-2057.

Of course, in Canada the Canadian copyrights for those books, thanks to Leslie McFarlane publishing his autobiography, expire in 2027. (Although right now, the original texts of #'s 18-21 written by Dr. Button are public domain here in Canada due to Button's death in 1967—50 years was 2017.)

[MacGyver]

Wow! Very interesting! Thanks for posting.
I doubt it is the original text though, since there are things in some OT stories that would not fly today at all. Still, it is 160 pages though so who knows? Maybe they will come with a note like the Applewood reprints.

[Raven]

I checked my copy of The Shore Road Mystery published by Armada. It's about 160 pages for 25 chapters.

[tomswift2002]

Don't forget but with public domain printings they are under no obligation to include any notes or even use the original cover art. 

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

It might be the Original text.  In the US 2022 is the 95th anniversary of The Tower Treasure, The House On The Cliff & The Secret of the Old Mill being published. (So this upcoming Saturday, January 1, those books enter the US public domain.)  The revised texts are still in under copyright in the US until 2054-2057.

Of course, in Canada the Canadian copyrights for those books, thanks to Leslie McFarlane publishing his autobiography, expire in 2027. (Although right now, the original texts of #'s 18-21 written by Dr. Button are public domain here in Canada due to Button's death in 1967—50 years was 2017.)

Would it be 95 years for Nancy Drew as well?

[NZone]

Yes, meaning April 28th, 2025 for the first ND book. Tower Treasure was published June 1, so the June publishing date likely means its the original version.

[tomswift2002]

Actually The Tower Treasure, House On The Cliff & The Secret of the Old Mill were released in mid-May 1927 (most likely May 16, 1927). 

So the Hardy's will be public domain later on this year, but here in Canada the books and characters will be under copyright until 2027, because, even for works for hire, Canada uses the life + 50 law, or for anonymous publishings (which the Hardy's could qualify as), 50 years after publication.  But as I mentioned here in Canada the John Button Hardy Boys books (with the exception of The Secret Warning are public domain, and in 2025 all of Andrew Svenson's Hardy Boys (28, 29, 30, 48, 50, 52, 53, 54 OT, 7, 23 RT). 

May 16, 1927 is also notable in that that was the day the US Supreme Court ruled that bootleggers had to pay income tax.

[MacGyver]

Just a question- does the copyright law still work for authors when their book is part of a series like the Stratemeyer Syndicate? To say it another way, does Simon & Schuster still have some copyright claim on the revised text books anyway?

[tomswift2002]

Just a question- does the copyright law still work for authors when their book is part of a series like the Stratemeyer Syndicate? To say it another way, does Simon & Schuster still have some copyright claim on the revised text books anyway?

Here in Canada?  S&S would still have copyright claim on the characters since the revised books are derivatives of "The Tower Treasure" (1927) which wouldn't enter the Public Domain until January 1, 2028.  Any character traits or story-specific characters introduced in those specific stories, would be public domain.  It's like Sherlock Holmes in the US: authors can use Sherlock as he appears in the pre-1927stories however they like, and even reprint them.  But they can't use the Sherlock that appears in the 2 stories from 1927 until January 1, 2023. 

A similar case will occur with Nancy Drew, although S&S will have a couple of decades longer ("The Secret of the Old Clock" 1930), since Mildred Wirt Benson only died in 2002 (funnily enough, because Walter Karig died in 1956, his 3 Nancy Drew's are in the Canadian public domain right now), so the Nancy Drew character will remain under copyright until January 1, 2053, whereas the 1959 Revised text of "The Secret of the Old Clock" will be Public Domain on January 1, 2033 due to Harriet Stratemeyer dying in 1982.  So the books can be reprinted by other publishers, but no one could do anything with the Nancy Drew character, in terms of writing a new story or making a TV show without getting S&S's permission (even though in the US, Nancy Drew the character will be public domain on January 1, 2026).  It's like the 2 Tom Swift Jr books that are public domain in the US: "Visitor From Planet X" & "Electronic Hydrolung".  Numerous publishers are publishing them, without S&S's permission, even though Tom Swift Jr. is still under copyright (although, in terms of William Dougherty who authored "Flying Lab", I've got no idea when he died or when he was born, of course because it was originally published "anonymously" under the Victor Appleton II name, in Canada it might have been in the public domain back in 2005). 

[MacGyver]

Okay. Thanks for the further explanation.

[tomswift2002]

Just a little interesting note, but here in Canada right now, the Grosset & Dunlap version of the revised text is currently a "Heather's Pick" for children.  "Heather's Pick" is a promotion run by Canada's largest bookstore chain, Chapters-Indigo, where each month the CEO picks certain books that she's read and then 1% of sales from those books go to charity.  There's an adult and children's charity depending on if the book is an adult or children's book.  (https://www.indigoloveofreading.org/)

[tomswift2002]

Here in Canada?  S&S would still have copyright claim on the characters since the revised books are derivatives of "The Tower Treasure" (1927) which wouldn't enter the Public Domain until January 1, 2028.  Any character traits or story-specific characters introduced in those specific stories, would be public domain.  It's like Sherlock Holmes in the US: authors can use Sherlock as he appears in the pre-1927stories however they like, and even reprint them.  But they can't use the Sherlock that appears in the 2 stories from 1927 until January 1, 2023. 

A similar case will occur with Nancy Drew, although S&S will have a couple of decades longer ("The Secret of the Old Clock" 1930), since Mildred Wirt Benson only died in 2002 (funnily enough, because Walter Karig died in 1956, his 3 Nancy Drew's are in the Canadian public domain right now), so the Nancy Drew character will remain under copyright until January 1, 2053, whereas the 1959 Revised text of "The Secret of the Old Clock" will be Public Domain on January 1, 2033 due to Harriet Stratemeyer dying in 1982.  So the books can be reprinted by other publishers, but no one could do anything with the Nancy Drew character, in terms of writing a new story or making a TV show without getting S&S's permission (even though in the US, Nancy Drew the character will be public domain on January 1, 2026).  It's like the 2 Tom Swift Jr books that are public domain in the US: "Visitor From Planet X" & "Electronic Hydrolung".  Numerous publishers are publishing them, without S&S's permission, even though Tom Swift Jr. is still under copyright (although, in terms of William Dougherty who authored "Flying Lab", I've got no idea when he died or when he was born, of course because it was originally published "anonymously" under the Victor Appleton II name, in Canada it might have been in the public domain back in 2005). 

Just an update to this, as of January 1, 2023 Canada extended its copyright law so that it is now Life of the Author plus 70 years, rather than Life plus 50 years, like it's been for decades now.

However, this extension is not retroactive, so for any Author who died in 1972 or earlier, their works are still Public Domain.  So with the Hardy Boys, Dr. John Button who wrote the original texts of #'s 18-21 are Public Domain in Canada because Button died in 1967.  Button's other book, The Secret Warning was co-written by Leslie McFarlane, and because of McFarlane's death in 1977, it will remain under Canadian copyright until January 1, 2048 (previously it would have expired January 1, 2028). 

However this also means that in Canada the original texts of The Tower Treasure, The Hidden Staircase & The Secret of the Old Mill are still under copyright until January 1, 2048, while in the US their copyrights expired on January 1, 2023 (the revised texts are still under copyright in the US).  All Leslie McFarlane Hardy Boys will enter the Canadian Public Domain on January 1, 2048, rather than the previously scheduled January 1, 2028.

Also, because Andrew Svenson, who wrote the original #'s 28, 29, 45,48, 50, 52-54 and a few revised, instead of those entering the Canadian Public Domain on January 1, 2026, they will remain in copyright until January 1, 2046.  Svenson died in 1975.

Of course with Nancy Drew, while The Secret of the Old Clock will see its Original text enter the US public domain on January 1, 2026, and the Revised on January 1, 2055, in Canada the Original will now be under copyright until January 1, 2073 (Mildred Wirt Benson died in 2002) and the Revised until January 1, 2053 (the original expiration for the OT, but now because of Harriet Stratemeyee Adams death in 1982)