Copyright status of The Wizard of Oz and related works in the United States
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was published in 1900, and was the first to enter the public domain in "1956". This allowed Reilly & Lee, the publisher of all the other Oz books (as well as Baum's other books) to issue their own edition of "The Wizard of Oz", which had previously been published by George M. Hill Company and later by the Bobbs Merill Company after Hill went bankrupt..
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the main protagonist in many of his "Oz" novels. She first appears in Baum's classic children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900) and reappears in most of its sequels. In addition, she is the main character in various adaptations, notably the classic 1939 film adaptation of the novel, "The Wizard of Oz".