You know I publish books, mainly public domain and I admit I am not always that altruistic about it. Well, we all need money, bills accumulate. The other day I was watching this presentation by Lawrence Lessing and it sent shivers down my spine... It is so inspiring, at least to me.
Bargain book publishers too turn to out-of-copyright books for much
of their catalog. When I was retelling folktales, much of my library
consisted of bargain books of classic folktale collections -- books
that disappeared quickly from print in their original editions but
that had timeless value.
People who push for longer copyright terms are not lovers of books --
they are lovers of money. They'd rather see scores of other people's
books sink into oblivion than lose a dime of their own.
Culture should be affordable if not free, copyrights
should be shorter than life +70.
Watch this and let me know what you think...
http://randomfoo.net/oscon/2002/lessig/free.html