[DNSB]

Originally Posted by vividread

- The fact that certain content is in PD means it's made open by its creator, or the governing legislative body of a democratic government that represents him/her. This clearly means that rights of a creator - the highest rights (higher than formatters / distributors / volunteers) - have been marginalized in exchange for better discoverability + sharing of knowledge.

An interesting take on the expiry of copyright. I take it you feel that copyright should be in perpetuity? For example, a book written 140 years ago where the author has long since died and there are no known heirs should not be freely available since that would marginalize the rights of the the creator.

Originally Posted by vividread

If my app makes an African kid aware about Alice in Wonderland in a free trial + cancellation (where I will be losing money for), why should a volunteer have problem? Taking a higher moral ground than the creator or lawmakers is something that doesn't suit volunteers, at least for the sake of the purpose here. (of discoverability)

I have no issues with what you are attempting. I do have strong doubts as to whether it will be successful.

Originally Posted by vividread

Volunteers like those in MR will keep the flame alive for PD works, sure, but the overall writing industry will take massive hit, and our children will have hard time understanding how knowledge is passed down every generation.

So far it would appear that the traditional publishing industry is taking a hit but the self-publishing industry is doing well. There are quite a few people/companies already keeping the "classics" alive. That does seem to be a rather small pool with some large frogs already dwelling in it.

Originally Posted by vividread

So while I totally agree I could go bankrupt the next day this is launched (due to no added value risk), I am also simply providing one more option in the market filled with megaliths making money off of authors' who died 150 years ago. Whether I use someone's formatted work is of totally negligible value here. (not that I intend to do it)

I wish you the best of luck. However the lack of an archivable format is a deal breaker to me. I have unfond memories of purchasing ebooks that would have been rendered unreadable when the publisher ranging from companies such as Microsoft down to 1 person operations dropped the ebook business, went bankrupt, whatever. If I can't remove the DRM and save a copy on my hardware, my money stays in my pocket.

"A cursory assessment of the manuscript’s sales appeal, however, convinced us that dollarwise the thing would be better employed as tinder for the library fireplace."—Bored of the Rings