Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
I don't know if I agree about limited edition chapbooks. I've never been a fan of artificially imposed scarcity. If I get an electronic version of such a chapbook, it's not going to reduce the value of the limited edition print, which was probably signed or at least numbered.
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You're right. It was a bad example in that it's back to conflating the value of the container vs. the value of the content.
One problem with an OOP/abandonment cutoff, though, will be one of definition. The rights holder's loophole is simply to put the work with a POD house like lulu.com. It would be technically available and rights holders would "park" properties there to keep them active even if they weren't keeping them actively marketed.
That's one of the definitions being wrangled over now in author-publisher contracts. Publishers can technically keep rights from reverting to authors via the OOP clause indefinitely even if they don't plan to promote the work.