Poetry X News Archive

Permanent Link 29 Aug 2005 11:34 PM

To the delight of the hundreds who have emailed us requesting this poet, we have added a few poems by Harlem poet Langston Hughes to the archives.

Now, before you all start complaining that your favourite Hughes poem is not included, be aware that most of Langston Hughes's poems are still under copyright in the U.S. (where Poetry X is based) and throughout the world, and the rights holder has thus far either ignored or not received our reprint requests.

We tend to err on the side of caution when publishing poems, and we only will publish poems that we either a) receive permission to publish, b) are in the public domain, or c) buy or license the rights to publish exclusively.

But what to do when the rights holder is not responsive or has gone out of business? If a company owns the rights to some intellectual property, and they are no longer a living business entity, what happens to those rights?

Due to over-restrictive copyright law, nothing enters the public domain automatically anymore. Poems either have to have been published prior to the 1925 copyright reforms, or explicitly entered into the public domain by the copyright holder.

In the case of Hughes, it may be worth publishing copyrighted works just to see who sends a cease & desist letter demanding we remove the poems. Alas, we won't do that. It's just frustrating when IP holders won't even return your letters or email to tell you “no.”

Langston Hughes Poetry →