It’s to protect privacy at the time. The same way certain court cases don’t reveal names

Why were true accounts at the time censored?

Edit- I still don't get why a city name would be withheld. Names, addresses, etc. sure those make sense. Are the place names in fiction imitating place names in true accounts being censored? Were other kinds of information censored in true accounts instead? What kind of things are the true accounts, like newspaper articles or something else like an autobiography?

Whose going to want rights?

Once they start thinkin, well by God they're going to want rights

It’s to make it seem real. It was standard in the era of classic novels. But when I see it done by new hip contemporary authors, I find it pretentious, and it takes me out of the story.

Hi! Your post is more appropriate for a writing sub. Check out /r/writing, please check their rules before posting. Good luck!

Its wild. A manuscript of a indepth analysis of movie no one has seen or heard of is found by some guy who assembles it together and intersperse journal like entries of their life throughout footnotes. Oh and the manuscript was written by a blind man.

Ok, now I need to read House of Leaves.

Let me ask you a question: why would a gentleman whose cigarillo case is inscribed "Genius at Work" spend all his time reading a frivolous work of prose fiction?

Indeed it did

That's right! Jane Austen did that, too. I guess it made the gossip in Emma that much juicier.

I think it’s a bit more complicated than just the copyright on the written work (particularly if the work is “public domain” because of a Creative Commons license) so it’s best to consult a lawyer. I believe Project Gutenberg does have a page of policies outlining how material can be used and under what conditions attribution is required. Adaptation for personal use is generally far less onerous than adaptation for personal use. But most of your questions can’t be answered without knowing more details about the specific work and what your plans are for the work which is why you’d need to hire yourself a lawyer who can give you a more definitive answer than anyone on the internet can provide.

Hah. So House of Leaves is basically the logical conclusion of the Scarlet Letter?

So the book was a collection of Greek myths I tied together and added dinosaurs and buffalo cause thats what the kids liked. A lot of it is the same as in the original text. Would that still be fine or is that plagiarism or some sort?

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And by difficult wrapping my head around, I guess the issue is more taking an expired copyright book or media and being to resell it. IDK lol.

The newly literate female reader is also why so many early novels are moralistic in nature. Richardson couldn't help but jump at the chance to warn women against... well, having a thought of their own.

Sometimes when a person's name was blanked out it's to imply that they are some significant figure or aristocrat and the implication is that it would be "scandalous" if this story were known about them or associated with them. Adds to the mood.

>I admit, I find it hard to wrap my mind around the idea.

when does something enter the Public Domain? author must be dead for 70 years.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_in_the_United_States

The claim that "pre-1928 works are in the public domain" is correct only for published works; unpublished works are under federal copyright for at least the life of the author plus 70 years.

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>Do I need to attribute it to them or if I rewrite it?

it might be a common courtesy.. or "standard practice".. but it's their great, great grandchildren or the estate who were responsible for maintaining/extending copyright (if they wanted to) they had 70 years to get it done.

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's last Sherlock Holmes book to enter public domain in 2023

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/12/30/public-domain-2023-works-include-sherlock-holmes-alfred-hitchcock/10970440002/

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Sherlock Holmes joins a first Oscar winner and the 'ice cream' song in the public domain

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/public-domain-2023-sherlock-films-books-songs-cec/index.html

that is why public domain exists

Yes! It was explained to me when I studied "the novel" as part of my English Lit degree. When the novel first emerged, they were seen as frivolous because they were fictional (and also because they were popular with women). A lot of authors tried to get around that by framing them as epistolary, retellings of stories they heard from a friend of a friend of a... or cautionary tales.

It's one of my favourite little known facts!

That is a good question for a lawyer. Or I'll say, yea, perfectly fine, and take a cut.

When I see someone's bookshelf full of completely new books in perfect condition it paints a picture of someone who doesn't actually read their books. Well used for me = well loved. Also I just don't like buying new books in general, I prefer buying used. I also don't like keeping my books past when I've read them. I donate them.

I’ve noticed this with dates as well, sometimes a letter in a book will have something like ‘3rd May 18–‘ written at the top

haha too good.

I remember being confused by this in Black Beauty, and I decided as a kid that it was because Beauty was bad at spelling...

I think House of Leaves is very much a modern example of this form of writing (and every other work in that genre) Right? HOL is a compilation of various notes and sketches of a persons experience in a house that appears to be haunted. It’s supposed to leave us the reader curious if what is being read real.