Posted by JB on April 04, 2012 at 15:34:27 user JB.
In Reply to: Re: Blyton updated posted by Magnus Smith on March 28, 2012 at 14:26:00:
Copyright is a double-edged sword. Yes, it is a mercy that AR's executors have not allowed the S&A books to be rewritten in Newspeak. On the other hand remakes and derivatives are far less objectionable if the unadulterated original is still available. Unfortunately Blyton died within a year of Ransome so her copyright owners also have another 25 years of exclusive editing and distribution rights.
As an aside, I would argue that Blyton was actually a pretty good writer. She would be held in much higher regard if she had limited herself to 12 books instead of grinding out 600 at an extraordinary rate of 10,000 words per day. Read The Secret Island, her first full length novel, to a young child if you don't believe me.