Re: Online and out of print

Chris Zielinski asked this Cyberlaw question:
>
> When is anything that is placed online, on the Internet to be
> precise, out of print? A few key variants to the question:
>
> 1) Out of print in an original paper version, available online
> as full text
> 2) Out of print in one country in an original paper version, in
> print in another country, available online as full text
> 3) Published originally online (in an electronic journal or
> e-zine, say)
>
> Note that for most texts in most countries under most contracts, the
> copyright reverts to the author when a text is out of print, so this
> has a very real significance for creators wishing to manage their own
> out-of-print work."

I think the answer is to be found not in Cyberlaw but in the language of the contract. Most publishing agreements specify that the rights revert to the author if the work is out of print ... but most publishing agreements also expressly define the term "out of print." So the question can be answered on a case-by-case basis. If the contract's definition of "out of print" is broad enough to cover electronic versions, and online versions are still available, then the work probably would not meet the contract definition of being "out of print."

Bob Cumbow
<cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> Received on Sat Feb 22 1997 - 00:48:52 GMT