Create an account to contribute to this site!

From Neverpedia

The script for the play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up – like all works by J. M. Barrie – is in the public domain throughout the European Union, Canada, Australia, and most of the rest of the world. However U.S. copyright law is based on the date of publication, not the date of the creator's death, and works first published after 1922 can still be under copyright in this country. Even through the play was performed to the public in 1904, and furthermore performed in the U.S. in 1905, Great Ormond Street Hospital argues that this doesn't count as "publication". The script was not published in print until 1928, which would place it under copyright in the U.S. through 2017.

It's patently absurd to claim that despite literally thousands of public performances, the play was free of copyright protection for a quarter century, until it was finally distributed on paper for sale to the public. If it had been copyright-free, anyone could have staged their own version of the story from memory during that time, or even written their own novelization before Barrie published his. But current U.S. law is written to award the latest possible expiration for copyright protection, and specifically endorses this scenario. Furthermore, the 1904 version of the script is not readily available. So, despite its common-sense public-domain status, it is not available on this site (which is located in the United States).

Peterphile recognizes the legality of GOSH's claim of copyright protection in the U.S. for the 1928 version (which has substantial differences from the original). However, visitors to this site from other countries are not restricted by U.S. law.

Depending on your location, select the appropriate option:

• Buy Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up from an independent bookseller and buy a copy through Alibris.com.
• Read: Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up at Project Gutenberg Australia.