Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
That's the issue. There are so many works in history that we only know about because they were mentioned in passing, or were quoted by someone else. This is because through much of history, the total number of copies of a book might range up into the hundreds if that.
If you look at modern books, then pre eBook, unless you were a very successful author, once the initial run was done, then the only place the book can be found is in a used book store. To a certain extent, success tends to be a matter of luck. One of my favorite authors from the 80's was Brian Daley. He never really hit it big, but I think that was more because he got lost in the shuffle than anything else. If it wasn't for the fact that his widow released his books as ebooks, I certainly wouldn't be able to replace the books that I have of his since the books have been out of print in paper for quite some time.
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Exactly. What if he hadn't been married, and had no living heir? Who gets control of the rights in that case? Does the book just fade into obscurity?
Shari