#valancourt

[elfwreck]

The word of the day is "Valancourt"

I need to flail about copyright law, and a DC Circuit Court decision that happened, err, yesterday:

Valancourt Books, LLC v. Merrick Garland, No. 21-5203 (D.C. Cir. 2023)

(You can google it. The Justia link has the full PDF.)

The ultra-short, tl;dr: Publishers don't have to submit 2 copies of their books to the Library of Congress anymore.

More details: Valancourt is an indie book publisher who skipped the "send two copies to the Library of Congress" part of copyright registration, in part because many of their works were public domain reprints, and in part because, well, they're a tiny indie publisher operating on a shoestring budget

I don't know how the LoC happened to notice them (certainly the vast majority of published works are NOT sent to the LoC, even if we leave out the digital works), but they did, and ordered them to send 2 copies of each of their works or face a hefty (for a small publisher) fine.

Valancourt fought back, claiming that, among other problems, the law (17 U.S. Code § 407 - Deposit of copies or phonorecords for Library of Congress) violates the 5th Amendment - it demands property of citizens without compensation.

Two lower courts sided with the gov't, saying that the benefits of copyright are extensive.

The DC Circuit court disagreed (emphasis added):

In urging us to view mandatory deposit as part of a voluntary exchange, the government cites the many benefits that copyright confers upon authors. But authors obtain those benefits upon fixation, and mandatory deposit grants no additional benefits. Tellingly, the government cannot point to a single incremental benefit that copyright owners receive for depositing works pursuant to Section 407. That provision then cannot represent a voluntary exchange for a benefit—there is no benefit at all.

Originally, depositing copies was a requirement of copyright registration - no copies, no copyright protection. Simple. Even had a practical purpose: in cases of infringement, the gov't had a copy of the original work to haul out to compare.

But the Copyright Act of 1976 threw that out - works were copyrighted "upon fixation of a work in a tangible medium," no registration required, not even the little © symbol.

Registration is required to pursue infringement claims. But. "The Act also removed loss of copyright as a sanction for failure to deposit." The 1976 Copyright Act was designed to say EVERYTHING IS COPYRIGHTED NO MATTER WHAT and not require anyone [companies] to do anything to secure those rights.

...It's been nearly 50 years since depositing 2 copies has given any benefit to publishers, but of course, they keep doing it, because the penalty for not doing so is heavy government fines.

Until someone (Valancourt) successfully argued that "requiring property without compensation" is a violation of our 5th amendment rights.

[waywordsstudio]

Review: "Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vols 1 & 2" edited by James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle -

Review: "Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vols 1 & 2" edited by James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle -

While not every story is terrifying, the Valancourt project is unique and important, bringing new and veteran writers into the English-reading world for the first time. What results is a unique collection with a wide range of concepts of horror. Worth reading, either or both volumes!

[derangedrhythms]

Beside us the lake murmurs. I drown in her eyes.

Martin Steyn, The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories: Volume One; from 'Kira', tr. James D. Jenkins

[omercifulheaves]

You know, I love Manly Wade Wellman's John The Balladeer stories and I really appreciate Valancourt books getting them back in print but I've got to have a slight chuckle at the cover art they went with for their release, which suggests less the tone of the stories and more "folk infused heavy metal album." Now granted, I haven't read all of the Balladeer stories, so maybe there is one where he fights Purgatori from CHAOS! Comics. Art by Ilan Sheady

[jellyfishjuliet]

MUSLIM HORROR FICTION MADE THE FINAL CUT!!!!

[absentmoon]

i finished severance, it was eerily relatable since the pandemic and also because of some of my personal experiences……. it was also SO much to digest & so heavy while simultaneously being fast paced and gripping. its a commentary on consumerism and on capitalism on work on race on immigration on the human condition……… amazing.

OMG YOU FINISHED ALREADY its so so so so goodddgfhbggfhfjfhfgdgdfd GOD. you UNDERSTAND. can you believe that was ling ma's debut novel

[teenyzombie]

we’re all ready for bedtime

[leonsrightarm]

i think the mysteries of udolpho would make for a really fun high budget tv series if done right. but if they did ever do it they would probably cut out most if not all of the times emily faints/swoons which is really tragic to imagine. even contemplating it is... it's too much... i'm starting to feel dizzy... *collapses weakly onto my settee*

[metrogeek]

@metrogeek

[pennyngram]

Ok I'm in a bit of a conundrum.

Technically, I've just taken a picture of a quote from Valancourt who is a guy from The Mysteries of Udolpho (novel by Anne Radcliffe) so uhhhhh. Does this count? Do I have to get married to the creepy guy who likes strolling in my garden in the middle of the night??

Otherwise, here is Simran.

PLEASE LET ME MARRY SIMRAN LOOK AT HER SHE IS SO PRETTY <2

Thank youuuu @anna-jo for the tag :D

Tagging: @soultea, @julyzaa, @linmeiwei @mbirafics, @rainpiratequeen, @theoceansblog + whoever would like to partecipate!

KSKSJSLSKSKLASIIS OKAY GENOS-

I'D NEVER SAY NO TO U 🤚

Tagging: @kingkyoujurou @presidentmonica @laudthingcat @kampfkuchen85 @cherrykamado @bxbycake @happygoluckyalexis @tonaken + anyone who wants to <3

[vintagerpg]

Welcome to the first meeting of our new Manly Wade Wellman appreciation society. After the golden age of the pulps, there are two authors who, for my money, tower head and shoulders above everyone else spilling ink — Fritz Leiber and Wellman. I don’t think either get enough credit and Wellman perhaps doubly so, especially the Silver John stories, which have, infuriatingly, been out of print most of my lifetime. Nonsense. Madness. The short stories at least have been recently reprinted by Valancourt Books (though with a terrible cover — sorry, John’s not a beardo), so this week I want to raise the profile of the novels. There were five, written for Doubleday and published expressly for the Science Fiction Book Club (I believe). There were paperbacks of some (Most? All?I’m not sure) in the mid-‘80s, but they’ve not been reprinted until the 2023 Complete John the Balladeer from Haffner, a pricey two-volume set.

This is the first, The Old Gods Waken (1979), which sees John get involved in a squabble between neighbors that winds up masking a sinister agenda involving druids, messing with ancient powers and, if John’s too late to the rescue, human sacrifice. The Raven Mockers, evil spirits from Cherokee folklore, play a memorable part.

The details, fun though they may be, are secondary to the feel of the thing. John is just so damn likable and pleasant, even with folks who don’t deserve the consideration, like the pair of druid brothers. There isn’t ever a real sense that John can fail, its his very nature to pick out a song on his silver-stringed guitar and find a solution, or a friend who can help out (in this case, a Cherokee medicine man/social scientist). John’s inner goodness just sees him through and that makes these stories both delightful and odd. You get a real sense of Appalachia, of the rhythm of the speech. These aren’t really horror stories, or fantasy (though John is 100% the template for the D&D Bard) but more warm-hearted adventure stories. I can’t even complain about the druids being such comical, one-note villains.

Michael Flanagan did the cover. Spooky!

[waywordsstudio]

3 Word Review: “The Valancourt Books of World Horror Stories, Vols 1 & 2” edited by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle -

#books #bookreviews #bookworm #readreadread #3words #horror #anthology #horrorstories #worldhorror #valancourt

[derangedrhythms]

Martin Steyn, The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories: Volume One; from 'Kira', tr. James D. Jenkins

TEXT ID: A lake is different from the sea. There isn't the constant energy of the surf breaking on the shore, it's like something that breathes. That waits.

[re-dracula]

Ella Watts of @camlannpod is returning as our director and associate producer! As a director, Ella has worked for the BBC, Six to Start, Marvel, and numerous indie audio dramas. You might know her work from Doctor Who: Redacted or Eliza: A Robot Story. If you listened to Re: Dracula, you're familiar with her incredible talent. I'm ever so excited to work with her more! 

Jamieson Ridenhour is coming on as a script editor and executive producer! You might know his work from Palimpsest, a fantastic horror podcast. He is also a professor of English who has taught on Carmilla for over a decade and edited the Valancourt edition of the novella. I couldn't have a better collaborator for adapting Carmilla to audio. Jamie knows audio drama, horror, and Carmilla. It's perfect!

Support Carmilla, A Re: Dracula Miniseries by joining the patreon!

[jellyfishjuliet]

oh that ending was atrocious but fitting 😂😂😂

[garden-beans]

I want what 20th century women authors were on

Ok but no literally I was reminded of my favorite (as of right now I am fickle) gothic novel. Which guys let me tell you about Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. Have you ever wanted to read Jane Austen but like also the plot is on crack a bit? Yeah, I also didn't know I wanted that until I had it.

So like, maybe spoilers but the novel was also published in 1794 so I feel like its fine. I'm going to break the book's plot down into four, and i want emphasize this, very simplified sections.

Part One: Death. We start with the death of our main gal's (her name is Emily) parents, total bummer they were like a super nice family and now she has to go live in the wack castle with her aunt. Stuff does happen before her parents die but for the sake of not ranting too much the most important pre-parental-death facts to know is that the family's fortune was in decline, Emily accompanied her father travelling the world after her mom dies and while journeying she falls in love with this guy named Valancourt. But then her dad dies and it's aunt time. Oh also she meets a woman called Sister Agnes at the convent where her father gets buried, we will come back to her. Classic set up we love to see it nothing too big happening here. But this leads us to the next plot point the castle. You guessed it! It's Udolpho.

Part Two: Udolpho. Ok to be fair im skipping a bunch of stuff but we have to get through this, so straight up gothic castle on a cliff. I could go on a whole rant about the castle being a classic example of a large scary house in gothic novels and how arguably the main character could really be the castle and Emily is just our tour guide but I digress. Emily's Aunt has married this fuck ass guy named Signor Montoni, and he sucks so much ass. He forces Emily to break off her engagement with Valancourt (yeah that happened in the stuff i skipped) by manipulating her aunt. He also before they make it to Udolpho tries to force Emily to marry his creepy old man friend Count Morano and sign over her property to him (her uncle). But then switches up real fast when his friend turns out to be like loosing his money or smth and Montoni and her Aunt drag her off to Udolpho. Ok great they get there and turns out Montoni is like a bandit king/leader guy???? and the castle is their center of operations??? And then the castle is attacked by other people and Morano shows back up and tries to kidnap Emily but fails. Also castle is allegedly mad haunted. Emily finds a creepy black curtain and has a breakdown about a frightful thing she sees behind it, she thinks it is the body of Signora Laurentini di Udolpho who the Count was rumored to be married to before. Emily thinks he killed her and put her body there. Great. Montoni ends up inadvertently killing Emily's aunt cause she won't sign over her property to him and plans on leaving it to Emily, so he locks her in a tower and she just gets sick and dies there. Skipping some more stuff Emily and a few others run away and escape Udolpho which leads to....

Part Three: Chateau-Blanc. Yay! Second haunted house time! They end up nearby where her father died and was buried. Some supernatural shit is happening here too apparently and a servant shows Emily this room with a painting of the Marchioness de Villeroi and tells her about her. Emily is like aw fuck this lady might be my real mom we look crazy related and double fuck because this room is also seemingly very haunted. So another guy is like hey i'll spend the night in here to prove it isnt haunted! and the next day he is straight up gone so that sucks. Emily then ends up going back to the convent and visiting Sister Agnes who is dying now too. And death is a hell of a drug because she confesses her whole life story to Emily and turns out Agnes is Signora Laurentini di Udolpho and had been the Marquis de Villeroi's lover. And she and him conspired to kill the Marchioness de Villeroi who is Emily's aunt not her mom. And like men do the Marquis regretted what he did and blamed it all on Agnes/Signora Laurentini and told her she had to go repent for the rest of her life. And Oops Emily should have all her aunt's land and stuff actually so she is a wealthy woman now once she recovers it all. Also! that guy (Ludovico) who disappeared earlier in the haunted room shows back up! Turns out he was kidnapped by Pirates who were trying to rob the mansion, not ghosts.

Part Four: Final Weddings and Reveals. So the book ends with Emily and Blanche (another character she is important but... you get it)) getting married. Emily to Valancourt after a series of miscommunications I glossed over. Its like a whole romance subplot of 'is he worthy of her love? is he not?' going on during the last part up until they are like 'ooo we are in love lets marry'. Idk the romance isn't why i am here. I'm here because the very end of the novel reveals to us that this whole time the creepy maybe dead body Emily saw behind that curtain was a wax figure. And it like ribs on her for not taking a second more to look, hold on im pulling out the quote for this one “Had she dared to look again, her delusion and her fears would have vanished together, and she would have perceived, that the figure before her was not human, but formed of wax". Like damn ok yeah...

anyway I just really like this novel. Like! It's mentioned by Austen in Northanger Abbey, which is knowingly a parody or satire of the Gothic genre. And Udolpho is used as like this example of a great gothic story in it. But I feel like you could argue that Udolpho is almost a parody or satire in itself? Like Emily is never actually in any danger from supernatural happenings. The worst is her new uncle and some other creepy men. And while that also can fall into the gothic genre there is also this self awareness the story has of its own elaborate craziness. If that makes any sense? Idk it just throws so many plot twists and points at you in the best way.