Don't know if anyone has seen this - it came to my attention through a email list for librarians.
France has apparently passed a new law that effectively, if I understand it correctly, blasts a hole through copyright law.
The basics are that any book published before 2001, which is not still in print or available in ebook form, can be digitalised by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and made available online. This is regardless of whether the author is living, or the copyright status of the book. The holders of rights have a limited period in which to object and to bring out their own printed/digital version.
More can be found on this page:
http://blog.authorsrights.org.uk/201...nes-copyright/
The implications of this law are far ranging - this really is, to use that old cliche, a "game changer".