美国国家公共电台 NPR--Works from 1927 are about to become part of the public domain

Works from 1927 are about to become part of the public domain¹

Transcript²

Every new year a crop of books, music and films become part of the public domain in the U.S. Jennifer Jenkins of Duke University shares a few of the works from 1927 coming our way.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

On Sunday, a new crop of books, music and films becomes part of the public domain, like this aptly titled song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE")

GEORGE OLSEN: (Singing) The moon belongs to everyone. The best things in life are free.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Phil Harrell looked into what's coming our way on New Year's Day.

PHIL HARRELL, BYLINE³: We're talking about works from the year 1927.

JENNIFER JENKINS: Anyone is free to share them, to use them in their own artworks, without fear of legal liability.

HARRELL: Jennifer Jenkins is the director of Duke University's Center for the Study of the Public Domain. She's got an impressive list of songs from that year.

JENKINS: Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On The Ritz."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ")

FRED ASTAIRE: (Singing) If you're blue and you don't know where to go to, why don't you go where fashion sits? Puttin' on the Ritz.

HARRELL: Also, "My Blue Heaven," "Ol' Man River," George and Ira Gershwin's "Funny Face" and "S'Wonderful." There's one novelty song Jenkins remembers hearing as a kid.

JENKINS: And I had that complete enchantment⁴ at the phenomenon of a frozen dessert homonym⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ICE CREAM")

FRED WARING AND THE PENNSYLVANIANS: (Singing) I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.

JENKINS: You know, you see a kid light up when they first hear a pun, and I thought, that's so clever.

HARRELL: Among the books headed for the public domain - titles by Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner.

JENKINS: My favorite is Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse."

HARRELL: And some of Arthur Conan Doyle's last Sherlock Holmes stories, which brings up an interesting question - does just the book go into the public domain? Or can the still profitable characters, like Sherlock and Watson, remain protected?

JENKINS: The estate of Conan Doyle has tried to use some very creative copyright theories to demand licensing⁶ fees for the use of these characters.

HARRELL: Like shouldn't their copyrights from the first book not expire after 95 years if the author kept writing about them in subsequent books?

JENKINS: That got rejected in court.

HARRELL: Or what about when other writers give Sherlock new character traits, something that wasn't in the books? Surely, that's copyright infringement⁷.

JENKINS: Guess what? (Laughter) No one can claim to own generic⁸ character traits.

HARRELL: The court said no.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON")

BASIL RATHBONE: (As Sherlock Holmes) Elementary, my dear Watson.

HARRELL: 1927 was a transitional year for Hollywood with the release of "The Jazz Singer."

JENKINS: The very first spoken words in a film that were ever heard by an audience came from that movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE JAZZ SINGER")

AL JOLSON: (As Jakie Rabinowitz) Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You ain't heard nothing yet.

HARRELL: Al Jolson's voice ushered⁹ in the age of the talkie. Now, setting aside the fact that "The Jazz Singer" was staggeringly racist¹⁰, with Jolson performing in blackface, that movie did change everything. It meant the demise¹¹ of silent films. And many greats were released that same year.

JENKINS: The first winner of the Academy Award for best picture - it was called outstanding picture back then - was a film called "Wings."

HARRELL: Also, the influential¹² sci-fi pic "Metropolis¹³."

JENKINS: That has echoes in everything from "Blade Runner" to the "Star Wars" movies.

HARRELL: Now, luckily, those films have been preserved. But once studios gave up on silent films, often reels were destroyed.

JENKINS: Many of them were melted down for their silver content, which was thought to be more valuable than the film itself. Many were discarded to clear up storage space.

HARRELL: The Library of Congress estimates that 75% of American silent films are partially¹⁴ or completely lost. Jennifer Jenkins says, if only they'd lasted until public domain day.

JENKINS: We have lot of empirical research showing that when works are in the public domain, they're more likely to be preserved because third parties can copy them, digitize them, save them for history, without fear of legal liability.

HARRELL: A process that can begin for works from 1927 on New Year's Day.

Phil Harrell, NPR News.

1 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

5 homonym   

n.同音异义词

参考例句：

• Confusion of homonym is a long-term disturbing problem in current Chinese Braille.同音词混淆是长期困扰现行盲文的问题。
• The nickname comes from the Chinese word for returnees,haiguipai,a homonym for sea turtles.在中文里，这类人被称为“海归派”。

6 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

7 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

8 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

9 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

11 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

12 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

13 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

14 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。