Originally Posted by DiapDealer
You misunderstand me. I mean they typically control the rights for as long as the work is in print (or more accurately: generating money). And they get to decide (or define) whether it's still in print. "The life of the work," not the length of the copyright. The fact that an author can regain control after the book has been commercially milked dry is little consolation.
And it's not even always about controlling the rights while the author's generating money for them. I know of at least one author who can't deliver the final book of a series to his fans because the publisher owns the rights to a book they have no intention of ever publishing--they dumped the series, and eventually the author (but not the rights). It should be illegal to indefinitely retain the rights to an author's work that you have no intention of publishing.
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