For some silly reason I figured if they were being draconian about copyright those texts wouldn't be so freelay available on a mainstream literature source. Is it mayhap less a copyright issue and more an attempt to keep some sort of "purity" thing going with the original works, I wonders?<<< Could be. However, if in fact the copyright is expired their reasoning behind some of the measures they have taken is moot. If the copyright is expired it is expired and they have no legal rights over it. Now, it is my understanding that all of ERB's works previous to 1923 are now in the public domain. If that is so, then ERB, Inc. is simply trying to prevent anyone from dimishing the financial worth of the properties so they, ERB, Inc., can reap greater profit from Mr. Burroughs' work. I also think part of the reason you will find most of ERB's pre-1923 work so readily available is that it is places like Gutenberg and other sources that would call ERB, Inc.'s bluff. There are occassional discussions in the ERB newsgroup that are interesting when someone tries to issue a version of one of ERB's works that has not been "authorized" by ERB, Inc. Then there is the tale of ERB, Inc. suing a fan of the Mars stories because he had named his restaurant-bar "Barsoom." If you check U.S. Trademark records online, your will see that "barsoom" is trademarked by ERB, Inc. as are a number of other John Carter and Tarzan related terms and names. They cannot protect them under copyright law since the copyrights on much of the material has expired and since, it is my understanding, you cannot protect names or terms under copyright law so they have resorted to trademark infringement cases. I've never raised the issue with my attorney since I've never had the need, but I am curious now so I may when I next meet with him. It would be interesting to see the reaction from ERB, Inc. if someone decided to do an illustrated "Princess of Mars" novel or comic online. If I understand copyright law correctly, there is not a great deal they LEGALLY could do. But if it was a small outfit launching it, ERB, Inc. could either intimidate them to cease or bury them in legal bills through appeal after appeal. I wonder what they thought of Bo Derek's "Tarzan" movie?