http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02...y_acquisition/
Quote:
Last week France passed a law that permits the state to seize authors' rights on books published before 2001. Scribes have just six months to opt-out, or lose their moral rights and the ability to determine a price for their work.
It's essentially a Compulsory Purchase Order for intellectual property - the author's work is no longer their own. Ownership is instead transferred to a quango answering to the French Ministry of Culture, which is authorised to make it digitally available. Publishers are the big beneficiaries.
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Important for the authors here who have published in France.