Discussion Forums

Re: "A Middle English Vocabulary" scam

Subject: Re: "A Middle English Vocabulary" scam
by Morgan on 2011/1/20 12:06:16

Thank you Trotter and Aelfwine for the clarifications and suggestions.

So, if I understand the situation correctly, the copyright of the original publication has expired. Would this then mean that the work can be reprinted in whatever way and by whoever, without the approval of the Tolkien Estate/Tolkien Trust?

If this is the case, then why do the publishers market the book as written by "J R. R. 1892-1973 Tolkien" - just out of ignorance? Or is it a strange attempt to elude legal actions?

In any case, IMO it would be nice, as Beren states on Tolkien Library, to see a "proper" reprint, using the original cover. While I see the great value of free pdfs, I don't trust that everything is rendered 100% correct in such copies (e.g., diacritics are often missing). (edit: I saw that the link Trotter provided also included a scan of the whole publication)