Public Domain Day advent calendar #1: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran | Everybody's Libraries Everybody's Libraries Libraries for everyone, by everyone, shared with everyone, about everything Skip to content Home About About the Free Decimal Correspondence Free Decimal Correspondence ILS services for discovery applications John Mark Ockerbloom The Metadata Challenge ← Why pay for what’s free? Finding open access and public domain articles Public Domain Day advent calendar #2: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Cantata by Frances McCollin → Public Domain Day advent calendar #1: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran Posted on December 1, 2018 by John Mark Ockerbloom “Your children are not your children […] For they have their own thoughts […] You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.” The lines above are from one of the more well-known parts of The Prophet, written by Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran.  Though they talk about one’s offspring, one could also see them as applying to one’s creations.  They may originate from people (parents or authors) who start with great control and influence over them, but eventually they become independent of their origin.  To quote another line in the poem, they “dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit”. Since The Prophet was first published in 1923, it has to a large extent been under the control and influence of its author, and then, after his death in 1931, his estate.  But over time it has entered the public domain in various countries around the world.  It entered the public domain in many countries at the start of 1982, after 50 years had passed from the author’s death.  It entered (and in some cases, re-entered) the public domain in many others in 2002, more than 70 years after his death.  And finally, 31 days from now, it will enter the public domain in the United States, as part of the first batch of published works to enter the public domain in more than 20 years. During the month of December, this blog will feature various works from 1923 that will be joining the public domain in the US this coming January 1, Public Domain Day.  The Prophet is fairly well-known and still easy to find in print.  Many other interesting works from 1923 are not so well-known or easy to find, and I hope to feature a wide variety of works over the next 31 days.  (I already have some works planned to feature, but have not yet filled out a full roster; if there are any in particular you’d like to suggest, let me know by commenting here or by contacting me.) I plan to keep most of the posts short, but I’ll have links to more information on the works and authors featured, and folks are also welcome to discuss them further here in the comments if they wish.  Come the new year, I’ll also go back and add live links to online copies of the works when possible.  (For now, I’ll just add a link to all online books I know of by Gibran, some of which are already public domain in the US, and some of which aren’t yet but are public domain elsewhere.) I may also sometimes take the opportunity to point out aspects of copyright relevant to the featured work.  For instance, in this post I’ve directly copied material from Gibran’s book (by quoting from it) even though I’ve noted that it’s still under copyright where I am.  I can do this thanks to the principle of fair use, which allows such copying under certain circumstances. There’s no universal algorithm for determining whether fair use applies in a particular case, but since I’m only quoting a small portion, in a noncommercial educational context, in order to provide original commentary and not to provide a substitute for the original work, a fair use defense would be very likely to prevail if a copyright dispute came up.  Once The Prophet enters the public domain here, though, we’ll be able to use larger portions, or the whole work, for a much wider variety of purposes. I’ll post my next Public Domain Day advent calendar entry tomorrow.  I hope you’ll come back then to read it, and welcome your comments. 2019 update:  Link to the full text of The Prophet, now in the US public domain, courtesy Gutenberg Australia     Share this: Email Print Twitter Facebook Reddit Like this: Like Loading... Related About John Mark Ockerbloom I'm a digital library strategist at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. View all posts by John Mark Ockerbloom → This entry was posted in adventcalendar, copyright. Bookmark the permalink. ← Why pay for what’s free? Finding open access and public domain articles Public Domain Day advent calendar #2: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Cantata by Frances McCollin → Search for: RSS feed Pages About Free Decimal Correspondence ILS services for discovery applications John Mark Ockerbloom The Metadata Challenge Recent Posts Public Domain Day 2021: Honoring a lost generation Counting down to 1925 in the public domain From our subjects to yours (and vice versa) Everybody’s Library Questions: Finding films in the public domain Build a better registry: My intended comments to the Library of Congress on the next Register of Copyrights Recent Comments Jason on Public Domain Day 2021: Honoring a lost generation John Mark Ockerbloom on Public Domain Day 2021: Honoring a lost generation Norma Bruce on Public Domain Day 2021: Honoring a lost generation Brent Reid on Counting down to 1925 in the public domain John Mark Ockerbloom on Counting down to 1925 in the public domain Archives January 2021 December 2020 March 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 June 2018 January 2018 December 2017 September 2017 January 2017 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 May 2016 January 2016 January 2015 June 2014 January 2014 October 2013 August 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 July 2012 May 2012 January 2012 October 2011 September 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 Access for all Open Access News Copyrights and wrongs Copyfight Copyright & Fair Use Freedom to Tinker Lawrence Lessig General library-related news and comment LISNews TeleRead Interesting folks Jessamyn West John Scalzi Jonathan Rochkind K. 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