Free book - Ten Years Under the Earth

[Smithers]

I came across a link to Norbert Casteret's book 'Ten Year's Under the Earth' which you can download as a PDF or in several other formats.

http://www.archive.org/download/http://www.archive.org/details/tenyearsunderthe009257mbp

I don't know whether the book is still protected under copyright laws, as it was first published in 1938, but its certainly out of print and hard to get a hold of otherwise.

Anyway, it looks like an interesting read and I'm sure some people on the forum will appreciate it.

 

[graham]

I'd be very surprised if it was yet out of copyright. Casteret died in 1987. Copyright is still author's lifetime + 50 years as far as I am aware.

 

[Smithers]

You're pretty much right Graham, I've just looked up the legislation on copyright in the Uk and copyright extends to 70 years after the authors death.

However, in the case of this particular book, it has been released under the Million Books Project, whcih is similar to Project Gutenburg, and is therefore a legitimate download.  The project is being run by a US university in collaboration with the Indian and Chinese government's.


Here's a revised copy of the above link, as I copy and pasted it incorrectly:

http://www.archive.org/download/http://www.archive.org/details/tenyearsunderthe009257mbp

It's also worth noting that the book is out of print, and therefore you cannot purchase a new copy.  Therefore you cannot pay any proceeds to the estate, meaning that no-one is being done out of any financial reparations by you downloading the book.

Since the book is out of print it is no longer possible to get hold of a paper copy, which means that by downloading it you are not preventing the estate from earning money on the loss of a potential sale.

 

[maxb727]

Hello,

Not sure the link is working, i cannot find it....

 

[graham]

Smithers

But in releasing it in this way you are effectively preventing the estate from gaining income from a reprinted edition.

 

[caving_fox]

Also - just because it's a legal US download, does not necessarily make it one over here. Despite a global internet, local rules vary. It's major pain with ebooks, and needs/must/will soon be sorted out - somehow.

'tis a good read if you do get hold of a copy - despite a few somewhat odd thoughts of the time.

 

[graham]

'tis a good read if you do get hold of a copy - despite a few somewhat odd thoughts of the time.

I refer you to Descent no 156 pp 32-33 from 2000.

 

[Smithers]

I take your point, but the book has been out of print for a good number of decades, so if the current resurgence in caving hasn't motivated the estate to republish it then I don't know what will.

As for the link it seems to past two parts of it whenever I copy it directly.  If you cut and past the part of the url starting from the second http:// then it should work.

Whenever I try and copy and paste the link something goes wrong, so here'a a link to the google search, its the first link:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1G1ACAWCENGB379&q=norbert+ten+years+under+the+earth&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Anyway the point is its an interesting book and here it is available for download.  Whether you chose to download it or not is up to you.

 

[dunc]

Smithers

But in releasing it in this way you are effectively preventing the estate from gaining income from a reprinted edition.

Hardly.. If the estate wanted to gain income they could quite easily have done, but it seems they haven't.. And as Smithers points out you don't have to download it, just buy a copy instead, oh wait....

 

[Brains]

I shall read it at leisure...

 

[martinm]

There is a bug in the forum/editor software! This is the correct link:-

http://www.archive.org/details/tenyearsunderthe009257mbp

(I just took off the http:// strings first before saving.)

This is one of the books that first got me properly interested in caving in the late 1970's!

Enjoy!  8)

Mel.

 

[barrabus]

the book has been out of print for a good number of decades...

My copy (albeit an American import) was purchased new in Inglesport recently. I'm sure there's at least a couple of booksellers on this site who would gladly send you a copy or see the link below with a number of copies for around ?1-?2.

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?bt.x=0&bt.y=0&sts=t&tn=ten+years+under+the+earth

 

[moorebooks]

Sorry not free however i do have a large stock of several editions of the book

http://www.moorebooks.co.uk/shelves/cart.php?target=category&category_id=355

Mike

 

[rhychydwr1]

I only have one Castet for sale:

AVENTURES SOUS LA TERRE Norbert Casteret [1961 ] this is 1975 reprint. 188pp numerous b & w plates inclues Gouffre de la Pierre Saint Martin, La colossale Cigalere, Silence, solitude et tenebres hb with colour plate on dust wrapper.  In French ?9.00

 

[AndyF]

I'd be very surprised if it was yet out of copyright. Casteret died in 1987. Copyright is still author's lifetime + 50 years as far as I am aware.

The comments here are refferring to UK law... Casteret was French of course.... I've no idea if French copyright law is the same, or if UK or French copyright law would apply to the English translation of the book. 

 

[Les W]

Copyright law is predominantly the same throughout the world (with some differences in certain nations). The treaty that formulates rules of copyright is the Berne Convention (although there has been some messing about with the rules to try and extend some periods within the EU). Both France and the UK are full signatories so I would expect the relevant legislation to be quite similar.
A quick look on Wikipedia shows that both countries have the same period for literay works, copyright is until the death of the author + 70 years.

 

[graham]

Les is, of course, right about the Berne convention and about the fact that copyright law is the same in France and the UK.

There is a complication in that what Casteret wrote as Ma Vie sous Terre and Dix Ans sous Terre are not the same text as what was published here and in the US as Ten Years Under The Earth. The translator has a share of this as well as the translation is a new work. It may be that the translator has assigned his rights to the original author, but even so that can still affect the period of time.

It's a complicated area of law, if anyone really wants to know, I know a couple of professional translators who may be willing to share what they know.

However, what I will say is that it is important to realise that these rights exist and that "free downloads" may well be breaching those rights. This is only just taking off in the literary sphere in the way that it has been happening in the music sphere for many years, but there will be problems down the road.

 

[David Rose]

Casteret's book is a classic of caving literature. I took out a copy from my public library back in 1970, just after my first caving trip, when I was 10, and found it inspiring. Its sequel, More Years Under the Earth, which has a lot about the epic exploration of the Cigalere, is pretty good too. I wonder if there is anyone with the time and energy to publish new paper editions of these and other classics, such as accounts of the first exploration of the Berger, or of Fernand Petzl's extraordinary wartime adventures in the Dent des Crolles? (For those unfamiliar with this, he and his mates used to cycle vast distances to get somewhere near the entrance, spend the weekend underground, getting close to - 1,000 metres, then cycle back. They also managed to invent the first primitive SRT and were active in the Resistance. Quite impressive.)

 

[Les W]

I wonder if there is anyone with the time and energy to publish new paper editions...
snip
...Fernand Petzl's extraordinary wartime adventures in the Dent des Crolles?

Still available:

http://www.speleoprojects.com/html/detail/english/subterranean.html

 

[stevejw]

I wonder if there is anyone with the time and energy to publish new paper editions...
snip
...Fernand Petzl's extraordinary wartime adventures in the Dent des Crolles?

Still available:

http://www.speleoprojects.com/html/detail/english/subterranean.html

Looks good but this one seems to be expensive on Abe. You could always borrow a copy from your local public (or Uni if you have access) library via the British Library's document supply service (you fill in an inter library loan card - it may cost you libraries vary on this) as 1951 & 1975 editions appear to be listed on the BL catalogue.