Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarana
New covers on old books is often due to the loss of control of the cover image. Copyright rights have reverted not just to authors after 35 years. I believe that law includes covers which were separate from the book (unlike illustrations within a book). In many cases, covers were work-for-hire, so owned by the publisher. Now the author is republishing elsewhere, but the cover didn't come along with the rights.
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If a book is really old, it may not be just rights control, it might involve actually FINDING a nice condition cover to scan if one had the rights. Which often isn't easy for older, out-of-print titles. Nor cheap if a title is scarce.
At any rate, it's sad, because often, the old covers were lovely and create that certain nostalgia about a title. So I too wish more of the old art could be attached to new ebooks. But it's not likely to happen very often in today's world.