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The following books are by authors that have died more than 50 years ago, which places them in the public domain in many countries, particularly those outside the US and Europe. However, they remain copyrighted under United States law, where works copyrighted in 1923 or later can remain under copyright for up to 95 years after publication. Many of them are also copyrighted in European Union countries and other countries where copyrights can last longer than 50 years past the author's death. (Europe, for instance, uses a life plus 70 years term.) Follow this link for more details on copyright laws of various countries. Death dates for the authors of the books below are provided, so that you can check them against the terms of your country's copyright law.

Do NOT download or read these books online if you or your system are in the United States, or in another country where copyrights for authors with the dates shown below have not expired. The author's estate and publishers still retain rights to control distribution and use of the work in those countries.

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The texts (not for US use)

AE / George William Russell (1867-1935)

Some of this writer's work is in the public domain in the US. Here is a complete list of available online works.

The text below is provided by Gutenberg Australia. The US copyright status on it is uncertain.

Hervey Allen (1889-1949)

The text below is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

George Sidney Arundale (1878-1945)

The US copyright status of these works is uncertain. They are provided by AnandGholap.net, in India.

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937)

Much of Barrie's work is in the public domain in the US. Here is a complete list of available online works.

The play below is still copyrighted in the US, because the script was not published until 1928. (See the link above for earlier works featuring Peter Pan that are public domain in the US.) The text is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943)

Some of Benet's work is in the public domain in the US. Here is a complete list of available online works.

The US copyright status of the text below is uncertain. It is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

Annie Wood Besant (1846-1933)

Much of Besant's work is in the public domain in the US. Here is a complete list of available online works.

The US copyright status of the text below is uncertain. It is provided by AnandGholap.net, in India.

Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933)

Some of Biggers's work is in the public domain in the US. Here is a complete list of available online works.

The texts below are provided by Gutenberg Australia.

Steen Steensen Blicher (1782-1848)

Blicher's original work published in his lifetime is in the public domain in the US. However, some English translations, like the one below, are not. The text below is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

Jean Richard Bloch (1884-1947)

The text below is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

Frederick Bligh Bond (1864-1945)

The US copyright status of the text below is uncertain. It is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

John Buchan (1875-1940)

Books by John Buchan, both in and out of US copyright, can now be accessed via his author page.

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950)

Books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, both in and out of US copyright, can now be accessed via his author page.

Emily Carr (1871-1945)

Books by Emily Carr can now be accessed via her author page.

Willa Cather (1873-1947)

Books by Willa Cather, both in and out of US copyright, can now be accessed via her author page.

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Books by G. K. Chesterton, both in and out of US copyright, can now be accessed via his author page.

Lord (Charles J.) Darling (1849-1936)

Books by Charles J. Darling, both in and out of US copyright, can now be accessed via his author page.

Warwick Deeping (1877-1950)

The text below is provided by Gutenberg Australia.

Norman Douglas (1868-1952)

Books by Norman Douglas, both in and out of US copyright, can now be accessed via his author page.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Most of Conan Doyle's work is in the public domain in the US, including all of the other Sherlock Holmes books besides the one mentioned here, as well as the Professor Challenger stories "The Lost World" and "The Poison Belt". Here is a complete list of available online works.

Text below courtesy of the University of Adelaide, in Australia

Texts below courtesy of Forgotten Futures, in the UK. For the other Professor Challenger Stories, see above. A complete Challenger collection, which includes the titles still under copyright in the US, is here. Text below courtesy of Gutenberg Australia

Formerly listed here

The following authors' works, both in-copyright and out of copyright in the US, can now be accessed from their author pages:
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