In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work, whether that work is in written, graphic, or recorded medium. The creation of such a work is an act of authorship. Thus, a sculptor, painter, or composer, is an author of their respective sculptures, paintings, or compositions, even though in common parlance, an author is often thought of as the writer of a book, article, play, or other written work. In the case of a work for hire, the employer or commissioning party is considered the author of the work, even if they did not write or otherwise create the work, but merely instructed another individual to do so.
John Boynton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator.
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books.
The history of copyright starts with early privileges and monopolies granted to printers of books. The British Statute of Anne 1710, full title "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned", was the first copyright statute. Initially copyright law only applied to the copying of books. Over time other uses such as translations and derivative works were made subject to copyright and copyright now covers a wide range of works, including maps, performances, paintings, photographs, sound recordings, motion pictures and computer programs.
The Copyright Act of 1790 was the first federal copyright act to be instituted in the United States, though most of the states had passed various legislation securing copyrights in the years immediately following the Revolutionary War. The stated object of the act was the "encouragement of learning," and it achieved this by securing authors the "sole right and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vending" the copies of their "maps, charts, and books" for a term of 14 years, with the right to renew for one additional 14-year term should the copyright holder still be alive.
Eric Honeywood Partridge was a New Zealand–British lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its slang. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the Army Education Corps and the RAF correspondence department during World War II.
The Old Dark House is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy horror film directed by James Whale. Based on the 1927 novel Benighted by J.B. Priestley, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Raymond Massey and Eva Moore. Set in interwar Wales, the film follows five travellers who seek shelter from a violent storm in the decaying country house home of the eccentric Femm family.
Charles Edgar Schoenbaum A. S. C. was an American cinematographer. His known film credits began in 1917—although he probably had earlier films—and ended with his untimely death from cancer in 1951 at age 57. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1949 for his work on Little Women.
The Adventures of Captain Hatteras is an 1864 adventure novel by Jules Verne in two parts: The English at the North Pole and The Desert of Ice.
United States copyright registrations, renewals, and other catalog entries since 1978 are published online at the United States Copyright Office website. Entries prior to 1978 are not published in the online catalog. Copyright registrations and renewals after 1890 were formerly published in semi-annual softcover catalogs called The Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) or Copyright Catalog, or were published in microfiche.
The Heir of Redclyffe, published in 1853, was the first of Charlotte M. Yonge's bestselling romantic novels. Its religious tone is derived from the High Church background of her family and from her friendship with a leading figure in the Oxford Movement, John Keble, who closely supervised the writing of the book. The germ of its plot was suggested by her friend Marianne Dyson. According to J. B. Priestley The Heir of Redclyffe was "the most popular novel of the whole age…Its popularity left Dickens and Thackeray far behind."
Toy books were illustrated children's books that became popular in England's Victorian era. The earliest toy books were typically paperbound, with six illustrated pages and sold for sixpence; larger and more elaborate editions became popular later in the century. In the mid-19th century picture books began to be made for children, with illustrations dominating the text rather than supplementing the text.
Let the People Sing is a 1939 novel by the British writer J. B. Priestley. It examines civic politics and corruption in the small English town of Dunbury, where the music hall is due to be closed. It was adapted into a 1942 film Let the People Sing.
Addie C. Strong Engle was an American author and publisher. She was one of the oldest Past Grand Matrons, Order of the Eastern Star, of Connecticut. She died in 1926.
Lost Empires is a 1965 novel by the British writer J. B. Priestley. A young man comes of age in the provincial music hall just before the outbreak of the First World War. It was set in a similar milieu to Priestley's earlier work The Good Companions.
Frances Theresa Elizabeth Peet Russell was an American writer and professor. She wrote three books about English literature. Her book Satire in the Victorian Novel may have been the first work to analyze satire in Victorian literature.
Alice Mills Palmer Streatch was an American composer who wrote both the words and the music for most of her songs.
Florence Margaret Spencer Palmer was a British composer who wrote several hymns and a piano pedagogy textbook. She published some of her works under the name Peggy Spencer Palmer.
Michael S. Farbman was a Russian journalist, writer and publisher of books. He was London correspondent for the Russian Bourse Gazette in the early part of the First World War and returned to Russia in April 1917 to cover the aftermath of the February Revolution for the Manchester Guardian, becoming the first correspondent with connections to the British Press to cover it from Russia. Farbman was in New York in 1918 as correspondent for Maxim Gorky's Novaya Zhizn pro-Menshevik newspaper, and wrote to oppose the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Returning to Russia he was one of the first correspondents with connections to the British Press to cover the early stages of the Russian Civil War. He published a number of books on post-revolution Russia and his study on the first five-year plan was particularly popular in the United States. Farbman was manager of the Europa book publishing firm and established the Europa Annual, intended to bring coverage of political and economic matters to the masses.
