Quote:
Originally Posted by murraypaul
I think another difference here is that there is no reason that geographic restrictions could not be done away with....
|
As HarryT points out, there's a few million contracts which beg to differ.
I don't see how you could viably change the laws -- especially since, as far as I know, there is no law that actually prevents, or interferes with, an author consigning the international rights to one entity.
In fact, I'm not sure how you could pass laws that would alter the situation, without crushing the rights not just of the publishers but the authors as well. Would you write 180+ laws that nullify all current assignment of international rights? What about the publishers who expended resources translating the books, are they out of luck? Would you declare overnight that any publisher who had any contract with any author could release international editions?
Perhaps you will force publishers to work in other countries? Or force retailers to work internationally, whether they want to or not? After all, publishers and retailers already have the right to conduct business internationally, no law prevents that.
What about materials that are legal in one location, and illegal in others? E.g. anti-semitic speech is legal in the US and illegal in France. Should the French publishers or retailers be forced to violate French laws, because international law requires this book to be sold in France? Might this expose the author to getting arrested if he goes to France, even if he actually abided by French censorship laws while there?
I can't imagine how such a law could be drafted, let alone passed, let alone made fair, any faster than will be created by growing economic incentives. I do believe the issue will be resolved, it's just going to happen faster by dangling currency around than by trying to eradicate every book contract in existence.