Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Maltby
I think that the right to produce copies of a work should require that said copies be made and made available for purchase. If a publisher finds it not in their interest to keep a work in print, then the rights should revert to the author. If the author is no more, then the work should fall into the public domain. Making the right to copy itself a marketable commodity is a part of the problem. It is treating the copyright like mineral/oil rights, that can be bought and sold with nothing of value being produced.
Luck;
Ken
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Not correct, Ken. Mineral rights are real property, just like the surface of the land. Yes, they can be sold, swapped, ect, but they can't be duplicated. And they can only be produced once... (Well, sort of. technology can change the production economics, causing reuse/rework, just like any other business).
McCauley covered this in 1842. Publishers would always have some version for sale (at an outrageous price), just to keep the copyright. A book held by copies for sale, at, say, $10,000 USD for a copy. Or the headaches of Print On Demand. Company X has an employee buy 1 copy a year. Voila, continually in print...