H.P. Lovecraft died on March 15, 1937, which is over 70 years ago. Does that now mean that his work can be used freely without violating copyright laws or needing to pay royalties to his estate? Is the Cthulhu Mythos now open to anyone to make games about? I guess this would apply to some of the other important Mythos writers like Robert W. Chambers.

No, Arkham House, a company set up by Lovecraft's friend August Derleth has renewed the copyright for many works into the 60s and beyond.
However, many writers have used some of the names i.e. "The Necronomicon" crops up all over the place without any acknowledgement.

e.g The Call of Cthulhu RPG is published by Chaosium "by permission of Arkham House", but "Unspeakable Words" which uses the names of many major Mythos entities has no acknowledgement...

All of Lovecraft's works published befores his death should be public domain in Europe, as the EU directive for intelectual property stablished a maximum of 70 years after the decease of the author. However, the Lovecraft estate was and is controversial and it seems the legal rights are not concentrated in a same person or corporation; for instance the rights for Call of Cthulhu are in the hands of Chaosium. IIRC, the wikipedia seems to have somehing on it, but, as always with it, exercise caution.

The wikipedia entry is very interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft#Intellectual_pr...

Seems that the copyright is complicated by (i) US copyright law being complicated and (ii) H.P. Lovecraft himself being generous with his work and it not being clear who owned the rights to the estate. The article certainly paints August Derleth in an unflattering light.

There are no records of the copyright being renewed on his works published before his death on http://cocatalog.loc.gov/ The copyrights seem to be on compilations with the basis for copyright being added intorductions, notes and annotations and the act of compilation itself.

The trade marks on certain phrases, such as The Call of Cthulhu, are owned by Chaosium. This seems perfectly reasonable and shouldn't cause any problems so long as these phrases are avoided.

I guess the way to proceed would be to attempt to contact the estate to verify that the copyright period has ended.

I think it's more complicated than that. I believe that August Derleth claimed the copyrights after HPL's death without any legal basis: he was not HPL's literary executor. So I think that whether the stories are public domain depends on who you ask. For example, you can find Lovecraft's work (or at least some of it) on some web sites, including Project Gutenberg Australia.

Early editions yes, later ones no. Arkham House either don't mind or don't fancy their chances in court.


Chaosium do not have the rights to the story "The Call of Cthulhu". However, they've trademarked phrase "Call of Cthulhu", which is part of the reason FFG's Call of Cthulhu CCG is licensed from Chaosium (the other part being getting access to Mythos material Chaosium does have the rights to, such as the wealth of stuff from the RPG).

If you ask Arkham House, they own the copyright to Lovecraft's work. If you ask others, you might very well get a different answer. A lot of Lovecraft's stories are available in places like Project Gutenberg and various Lovecraft fan sites, but I don't know if Arkham House's claim has ever been tested in court.

I am positive I read somewhere that Chaosium decided to stop paying Arkham House for the RPG rights to the Mythos some time back, but I can't remember where the article was.

Chris

    Copyright laws are different in each jurisdiction, so depending on where you are and where you intend to publish you will be covered by different laws. Lovecraft's fiction is widely available on the web, hosted in countries where it is legal to do so.

    Given the nature of copyright law in America, it is quite likely that Lovecraft's works, along with everyone else's created after Mickey, will remain out of the public sector forever.

             Sag.

I believe that August Derleth is actually H.P. Lovecraft...

Through arcane chants and dealings with unnatural folk before his death, Lovecraft managed to possess Derleth's form and then aggressively sought to acquire his own works, which, when read in precisely the correct way (pronouncing aloud every 7th word I believe) and during the appropriate time (still unknown to myself...I must find out so that I may stop the madness!) will unlock the gates and unleash the elder gods.

Not directly related, but nevertheless Lovecraft-ish:
Now don't spank me for this (although that isn't necessarily a bad thing), but I've never read any of his work, despite the huge volume of books I go through. so...where should I start? What would be the best introduction, Cthulhu or Necronomicon?

I suppose to move this into the "Off-Topic" forum. I like Lovecraft a lot, but the question about the copyright is not really "Gaming Related - General Gaming", ...

Neither of those are actually works of Lovecraft. OK, not quite true. The CAll of Cthulhu is a short story, but you won't find a novel with that title. Pick up any of the anthologies of his short stories. The Dunwich Horror and other weird stories is the best I think.