[QUOTE=Kali Yuga;1986666]This law applies to out-of-print works that are as recent as
11 years old.
Unless you're going to suggest a 5-year copyright term as ideal, this law is not addressing a duration issue.
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Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
If I were to draft a new law on this subject, why would I limit myself to books that are decades old? Wouldn't it make more sense to start more recently to prevent obscure works from being lost?
Or, you could stipulate that the government agency will scan out-of-print books, but not distribute them until the copyright expires.
It's pretty clear that the goal is to make out-of-print material available, not to archive it for future use as public domain.
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Legislation can have more than one goal; and if book preservation is one goal, why wait until the end of the copyright period when the book might already be lost?
As far as archiving for future, I would also be okay with that although I like the idea of making books available sooner rather than later.
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Originally Posted by tubemonkey
It can be; just change the law.
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That would benefit no one; even the select few corporations with enduring works they could capitalize on forever would be hurt be losing access to future public domain works. Your suggestion is really just nonsense.