Will Gatsby Still be "Great" When Its Copyright Expires?

The Great Gatsby is and, at least in my view, will likely remain the greatest American novel ever written. And so, I am terrified what will happen to it on January 1, 2021 when its copyright expires. 

I'm even less excited about this news: four days after that copyright expires, a book by Michael Farris Smith will release. It's called Nick and it's a prequel to the great, Great Gatsby.

I'm not sure if this is an supreme act of hubris, or if this author thinks he can actually capture Fitzgerald's essence. I'm already disappointed by the cover, which is simply a slightly altered knockoff of the original. Hopefully the writing will be more imaginative than the book's dust jacket. 

We'll find out in January.

Another Year... Another Year of Public Domain Works

As an historical non-fiction author relying heavily on public domain resources for my research, I have - for many years - repeated this self-made little mnemonic: "Pre-23, free to you and me." It was my way of remembering that books and materials published prior to 1923 were in the public domain. On January 1, 2019, however, a full year of works (published in 1923) will be added to those freely accessible archives. So, I've had to re-write my memory tool, as the meme below illustrates. It won't win any poetry awards, but it will keep me on the right side of copyright law.