Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
Yes, out of print books are a separate matter entirely. I'm of the opinion that if a book falls out of print for some specified period of time (e.g. 5 years, though I'd actually prefer a shorter period) it should automatically first revert rights completely to the author (if living), then go into the public domain if it still remains out of print.
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That's very problematic.
If your proposal was adopted in law, unscrupulous publishers would have an
active incentive to time-bomb their reversion clause boilerplate. Because? If a book goes into the public domain, the publisher can then roll the presses
without paying the author a penny. And they're the folks who are in the best position to profit from a book's initial sales and then keep it out of print for five years. (Then re-issue it and make roughly double their initial profit, at the expense of the author.)