Written by | Wang Tianyi
George Orwell died on 21 January 1950 at the University College Hospital, London at the age of 46. Unlike their contemporaries, the longer-lived writers, such as Graham Greene and Anthony Powell, died in 1991 and 2000, respectively. Copyrights to most of George Orwell's works (21 volumes to date) expire on January 1, 2021. Naturally, publishers have been good at seizing the opportunity of expired copyrights to classic works and will begin to launch a large number of new editions in the coming months.
The Oxford University Press is publishing a series of "World's Classics," including the upcoming george Orwell's Dystopian Visions, available in the Flame Tree Press.
Dystopian Visions, by George Orwell. The image comes from the official website of Flame Tree Press
George Orwell's biographer David John Taylor said he was preparing to annotate six of Orwell's novels during the first UK lockdown in the spring of 2020, two years before his new Orwell biography, which is scheduled for publication in 2023 as a follow-up to the 2003 biography Orwell: The Life. In addition, in this era of non-paper derivatives, in mid-December 2020, video games based on Orwell's "Animal Farm" became popular.
Image courtesy of Steam's official website
The picture comes from the Internet, Apple App Mall
However, the current publication or adaptation of some of George Orwell's works is still restricted. With the exception of Houghton Mifflin, any U.S. publisher eager to publish Orwell's work in large quantities will have to wait until 2030, when Orwell's first book in the United States, "Burmese Days," will cross the 95-year copyright term. Equally eager British publishers must tread carefully. Professor Peter Davison, a prominent scholar of Orwell studies, pioneered six new editions of Orwell's novels in 1980. But no one can use these content directly at the moment, as its copyright is currently owned by Penguin Random House. Orwell biographer Taylor said aspiring publishers, including him, had to go back to the standard editions published in the late 1940s, or use the writer's own disgusting "A Clergyman's Daughter" and "Keep the Aspidistra Flying," which Orwell considered "a mess." As a result, the original editions of 1936 and 1936 have been reprinted throughout his lifetime.
Peter Davison painstakingly collected content that entered the public eye after 1950 in George Orwell: The Complete Works (1998), and no one could "invade" it at will. Among them is The Infamous Work Such, Such Were the Joys, which depicts orwell's own troubles and pains in forming his own character at sussex preparatory school in England. The book was first published in the United States in 1952 and was not released in the United Kingdom until 1968 due to fears of defamation lawsuits in the United Kingdom. A similar situation applies to letters from Orwell's first wife, Eileen, which Davidson shows in The Lost Orwell (2006). In addition, Orwell's important letters became known in 2018, and Richard Blair, son of Orwell, recently authorized them to be sent to the Orwell Archive at University College London (UCL).
In addition, any dramatist, filmmaker, game producer or player who wants to embark on an adaptation of Animal Farm or 1984, as well as "intelligent" compilers, can do what they want. Among the many attempts to adapt these novels, David Bowie's musical 1984, created in the early 1970s, has a highlight. But this ultimately failed under the thwart of Orwell's widow, Sonia, who expressed her strong dissatisfaction. Others have survived some of the songs, including Diamond Dogs (1974). It is a pity that Bowie did not realize this dream. But who knows, maybe Alex Turner, lead singer of The British alternative rock band Artic Monkeys, has begun another difficult job in his latest single, which mentions "Robots from 1984."
Image from the Internet, The cover of the Album of David Bowie's "1984" released in Japan
Reference Links:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1398100/Orwells_Animal_Farm/
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/orwells-animal-farm/id1540294333
https://www.flametreepublishing.com/george-orwell-visions-of-dystopia-isbn-9781839644740.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2021/jan/01/george-orwell-is-out-of-copyright-what-happens-now
Editor| Li Yongbo
Proofreading | Wu Xingfa