In 1978 the copyright law was extended til the end of the author's life plus 50 years. It was extended to over 75 years after death in the 90's. This has bumped Breakfast at Tiffany's well outside the realm of public domain until almost 2050. The copyright is still owned by the Capote estate who has lended certain rights to the motion picture.
Many people have experienced copyright infringement at the hands of this extension of copyright. One of the most notable is a Swedish author named Fredrik Colting who wanted to create study guides for Kindergartners using classic American novels. Penguin and the Capote estate claimed that Colting or Moppet Books as his company is called were attempting "to recast unauthorized derivatives of these famous novels" (Gardner, 2017) They sued him for copyright infringement and stopped "KinderGuides" from ever taking off.
Copyright issues were also the reason it took the e-book version of Breakfast to be published. It's an extremely common problem since Breakfast is so popular and so old. Most people don't realize that it isn't in the public domain since a large portion of American classics from that period are starting to emerge.
Breakfast shows us the importance of understanding that a book has legal issues attached to it and being aware of them is important to utilizing the work.
Many people have experienced copyright infringement at the hands of this extension of copyright. One of the most notable is a Swedish author named Fredrik Colting who wanted to create study guides for Kindergartners using classic American novels. Penguin and the Capote estate claimed that Colting or Moppet Books as his company is called were attempting "to recast unauthorized derivatives of these famous novels" (Gardner, 2017) They sued him for copyright infringement and stopped "KinderGuides" from ever taking off.
Copyright issues were also the reason it took the e-book version of Breakfast to be published. It's an extremely common problem since Breakfast is so popular and so old. Most people don't realize that it isn't in the public domain since a large portion of American classics from that period are starting to emerge.
Breakfast shows us the importance of understanding that a book has legal issues attached to it and being aware of them is important to utilizing the work.
Citations
Gardner, E. (2017, January 19). Author Sued for "Children's Versions" of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' '2001: A Space Odyssey'. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/author-sued-childrens-versions-breakfast-at-tiffanys-2001-a-space-odyssey-965924
Masnick, M. (2015, January 5). All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150103/06291129584/all-these-works-should-be-public-domain-arent.shtml
Masnick, M. (2015, January 5). All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150103/06291129584/all-these-works-should-be-public-domain-arent.shtml