http://blog.authorsguild.org/2011/09...charities-etc/
Authors Guild has now posted a list showing that for 24 of the 160 works on HathiTrust's orphan list, they have located the author, literary agent, other rights holder, or evidence of living relatives or others who might claim rights. A couple on the list are actually currently in print, and for one the the author has other works in print, including some that are fairly recent. Hathi has removed one book, by Walter Lippmann, from its list, though it seems to me that authors who are alive or have demonstrable connections to agents, publishers, institutes that preserve their work, etc. should be removed as well. Being orphaned means only that it is not known who is responsible for rights to a work, and once you know that information the game is over. In general, there is enough on the Authors Guild growing list to raise major questions about HathiTrust's due diligence, not to mention calling into question the whole idea of what they are doing.