Book People Archive

Orwell's 1984 in Ascii - legal?

Hi,
At http://www.planet.nl/computer/koelkast/ (don't bother if you cannot read
Dutch) you can download a 'Big Brother' package that includes an Ascii copy
of George Orwell's 1984. As this work was published relatively recently (in
1949 to be precise), I'm wondering whether planet.nl (which is an ISP) is
doing something illegal here. I downloaded the file, and it's really a
nicely made-up unabridged copy of the book, including the appendices. There
are no copyright notices at all in the file. If you want a copy, try this
link: ftp://ftp.planet.nl/planet/software/koelkast/koel/BB-surf-kit.zip -
the book is included in the zip file. Was I on holiday when all books were
put in the public domain (great for Project Gutenberg!), or is something
else going on here?

Casper Hulshof
The Netherlands

[Moderator: As far as I'm aware, _1984_ is still copyrighted basically
 everywhere, including the Netherlands, where that site is located.
 There are a few popular titles that some people have pirated on-line, 
 though, and _1984_ is apparently one of them.  (I've been told of  
 at least one other site with a copy-- I don't know if the Orwell
 estate has already shut down others.)

 Orwell died in 1950, so people in countries with a "life+50" copyright
 term, like Canada and Australia, should be able to post and download Orwell's
 books in 2001-- not that long from now.  (People in Europe and the US
 will have to wait somewhat longer.)  Until the copyright expires, unless
 the estate gives permission it's copyright infringement.  - JMO]