Howdy all, i am writing an adventure based on a CAS short story based in Averoigne. I was looking for the copyright law when a fellow on DF stressed out the possibility that Moldvay and any other TSR staff used those CAS stories with no permission as copyright was not applied by CAS or who had the right to apply.

Now, to assess this fact I was thinking to follow 2 paths:
1. Contact who was at TSR dealing with such topics (in the first half of the 80s, Jim Ward was one of the responsibles... am i right?) and check this detail with him/her
2. Try to understand if those stories belonging to the Averoigne cycle are protected by copyright or not

For the first point, can you pls address me to the right person? If you are in touch with him/her, can you pls support me?

Re to the 2nd point, i have no clue about the steps to undertake... if you have any hint, pls let me know!!!

Thanks and ciaooo

Some of the stories are owned by Arkham House, and some by CASiana Literary Enterprises, so you may need permission from both. I believe the stories will enter public domain 95 years after they were published, which is soon, since they were mostly written in 1932 and 1933.

aia wrote in Help for a copyright clarification on a TSR module:Thanks a lot! I will follow the same path of Jackson Kuhl then!

Just to be more precise, the story I am referring to is "The end of the story", published May 1930. So, if the 95-year term applies, I'd be free to publish part of that text next year in June 2025! Maybe the best solution is being patient...

I would check Project Gutenberg (US version) periodically and see if stories have popped up there. If they have, they are highly likely in the public domain.

Books by Smith, Clark Ashton (sorted by popularity) - Project Gutenberg

Also WikiSource
Clark Ashton Smith - Wikisource, the free online library

Short (and sad) update... from the bottom of the wikisource page:

Some or all works by this author are in the public domain in the United States because they were legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) before 1964, and copyright was not renewed.

For Class A renewals records (books only) published between 1923 and 1963, check the Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database.
For other renewal records of publications between 1922–1950 see the University of Pennsylvania copyright records scans.
For all records since 1978, search the U.S. Copyright Office records.
See also the Rutgers copyright renewal records for further information.

I checked the first db (Stanford University) and found there is a copyright by Arkham House for the book "out of space and time" (and in it is present "the end of the story"):
Author/Contributor: clark ashton smith - Copyright Renewals - Spotlight at Stanford Search Results

At this stage I can only ask for the permission to Arkham House (and ideally to CASiana Literary Enterprises as well!): to do so I need to get in touch with them... I was thinking to ask support to Clark Ashton Smith - The Eldritch Dark but I have huge problems with this website: I firstly tried to use the "contact us" page but there is no way to use it as the page is apprently not safe and I canno access it... I secondly subscribed to the forum to reach the admin over there and even if i made the registration correctly, i didn't get the message via mail to activate the account... so I am in a dead end street... last request then: have you got any chance to provide me with the email of the admin of Clark Ashton Smith - The Eldritch Dark or let him know that I'd really love to get in touch with him?

Thanks again and ciaooo

FoulFoot wrote in Help for a copyright clarification on a TSR module:That's a tough one.  That website is old and broken, and the site owner has taken care not post his email address anywhere on it.  Couple with the broken contact page, he probably doesn't get a lot of correspondence.  :/

Twenty years ago, Boyd E Pearson lived in New Zealand.  That's where the trail ends.  His online presence seems to have disappeared sometime in the mid 2000's, so it's possible he passed away.

I'd try all four of these email addresses.  The first two were his at some point; the last two are guesses.

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Foul

Thanks Foul! It is amazing that the boards over there are still active (the last post was jan 27th!) while the admin has apparently abandoned the site decades ago!

grodog wrote in Help for a copyright clarification on a TSR module:Some other options to consider Axel:

1. Contact AH (but it seems their site and FB are both unattended)
2. Contact Chaosium (or Rick Meints directly) to ask their guidance
3.  Contact Necronomicon Press for same guidance

Allan.

Ciao Allan, thanks for your hints! These are valuable options... i have one question though: all these 3 solutions refer to HPL... do you know if chaosium or the other publishers have ever used CAS works?

Great , will do then!
Thanks!