Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
Lots of those types of books have been saved by e-books. It's just there are so many more to go. It helps if the author is alive and kicking. But even dead authors like Michael McDowell have had e-books released.
Yeah, I do agree with that, though there's a million arguments against it. I guess that's the good thing about being emperor.
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At one time, the major practical reason was that publishers controlled if the book was in print or not, and thus could hold a book out of print, let it go into PD and then print it taking all the profits. Now, of course, authors can easily self publish, so just stick language in the contract saying if it goes out of print, then the author can revert the rights to himself, and be done with it.
The other is the philosophical difference which holds that copyrights is intellectual properties, and by god, intellectual property means that the author and his or her heirs have the copyright for eternity. As Tom Petty and Mel Brooks said, it's good to be king.