Tolkien on the Kindle - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 01-16-2011, 11:23 AM

A few things interest me about the e-Tolkien's - both LotR & TH have appeared in different 'editions'. LotR has (it could be argued) three 'incarnations' - the first edition text was available between 1954/55 & (I think) about 1966, when Tolkien made a number of changes to the text as a result of the Ace Books controversy in order to allow him to renew/establish copyright for the work in the US. Then, in 2005, we got the '50th Anniversary edition', edited with a new index, by Hammond & Scull under the supervision of Christopher Tolkien. This contained 300-400 changes/amendments - mostly minor, but still.....all done after the author's death. (This came up in another thread http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showpos...2&postcount=98

Now, I have all three versions in print books, but the only 'official' e-book version available is the 50th - & that, appearing after Tolkien's death, is the only one of the three that appeared without Tolkien's stamp of approval. The other thing about e-books is the ability of the publisher/copyright holder to further amend/'update' the texts - an e-text is not a fixed thing in the way a print book is - you connect your Kindle to Amazon & it could simply update your current text with an amended one. Argument for: typos could be fixed. Argument against: any changes the copyright holder decides on would be forced on you - after all, you don't 'own' the text, only the licence to read it on your device.

Now, my favourite version is the revised, Second Edition - in the main because that's the one I read first & the one I know best - therefore the changes (however 'minor' they may be claimed to be) in the 50th grate on me. But I can never read that edition on the Kindle (unless I break the law & get hold of one of the older bootleg Second Editions, convert it, & stick it on there myself ..... but of course, that could cause all kinds of problems of a legal nature. And, of course, as indicated by the Orwell books issue, one could see a situation where, if copyright law is changed in the future then books which are currently out of copyright could (if copyright is extended) suddenly become copyright again & vanish off your device. I read somewhere that the Disney corporation is among those working to extend copyright, as Walt died in 1966 & his work would enter the public domain in 2036. I still don;t know whether the changes made to LotR (added to any possible future changes we may see) have extended/renewed the copyright on LotR.

01-16-2011, 11:23 AM	#11
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	A few things interest me about the e-Tolkien's - both LotR & TH have appeared in different 'editions'. LotR has (it could be argued) three 'incarnations' - the first edition text was available between 1954/55 & (I think) about 1966, when Tolkien made a number of changes to the text as a result of the Ace Books controversy in order to allow him to renew/establish copyright for the work in the US. Then, in 2005, we got the '50th Anniversary edition', edited with a new index, by Hammond & Scull under the supervision of Christopher Tolkien. This contained 300-400 changes/amendments - mostly minor, but still.....all done after the author's death. (This came up in another thread http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showpos...2&postcount=98 Now, I have all three versions in print books, but the only 'official' e-book version available is the 50th - & that, appearing after Tolkien's death, is the only one of the three that appeared without Tolkien's stamp of approval. The other thing about e-books is the ability of the publisher/copyright holder to further amend/'update' the texts - an e-text is not a fixed thing in the way a print book is - you connect your Kindle to Amazon & it could simply update your current text with an amended one. Argument for: typos could be fixed. Argument against: any changes the copyright holder decides on would be forced on you - after all, you don't 'own' the text, only the licence to read it on your device. Now, my favourite version is the revised, Second Edition - in the main because that's the one I read first & the one I know best - therefore the changes (however 'minor' they may be claimed to be) in the 50th grate on me. But I can never read that edition on the Kindle (unless I break the law & get hold of one of the older bootleg Second Editions, convert it, & stick it on there myself ..... but of course, that could cause all kinds of problems of a legal nature. And, of course, as indicated by the Orwell books issue, one could see a situation where, if copyright law is changed in the future then books which are currently out of copyright could (if copyright is extended) suddenly become copyright again & vanish off your device. I read somewhere that the Disney corporation is among those working to extend copyright, as Walt died in 1966 & his work would enter the public domain in 2036. I still don;t know whether the changes made to LotR (added to any possible future changes we may see) have extended/renewed the copyright on LotR. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."