Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
They could lock the manuscript in a trunk, I suppose. But they can't make any money until it is published. And once it is published, if there was no copyright, any publisher could obtain a copy and start publishing their own version.
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Which means they would make money. Less money, but money. Which is what I said to begin with. All this palaver just to establish that simple thing.
It would also be out for some time before the copies and a competent publisher (not that I know the first thing about US publishers of the era) ought to be able to see to it that it was made available in various parts of the country on the day of release. By being first, the memoirs of a revered figure like Grant ought to sell rather well in the time window available before the appearance of copies begun to diminish sales of the bona fide article.