What's the deal with lapsed-copyright SF classics?

[Stuart_Cormie]

Am I correct to assume that if the copyright in a certain work has lapsed (HG Wells' novels springs to mind), then we as writers have leave to develop new stories using the characters and settings contained in that book?

[Stuart_Cormie]

70 years for books, as far as I can ascertain.<br><br>I think it's also the same for other forms, but I'm not certain.

[Robert_Moriyama]

There are SOME works in the public domain, but you will generally find that most widely-known stuff from the last century or two has copyrights held by 'The Estate of' the author, or his descendants. You can safely use characters from anything from Homer and the Upanishads up through (probably) Shakespeare and a bit beyond; direct quotes might be specific to a particular translation or edition, and therefore be actionable by the current publisher of that edition.<br><br>If you want to check on the usability of a particular character, visit a major bookstore in person (or search online) and see how many conflicting editions of a particular work there are. If multiple publishers in the U.K. or the U.S. (i.e., more than one in the U.S. or more than one in the U.K.) have simultaneous editions, it MAY be that the work is in the public domain. (Of course, I could be completely wrong here.)<br><br>As a matter of courtesy, usually you hear about writers asking for the approval of 'the Estate of' or the descendants of the author of the original work if they want to play in that author's worlds, regardless of copyright issues.<br><br>Robert M.