Re: copyright expiration

   Michael Scarpitti suggested forcing publishers to keep a book available "in print" so long as the copyright still is in force." ....Otherwise, their copyright would lapse."

   Writers, who often own the copyright to a book and license publication rights to publishers, would object to this. Writers have very little control over (or knowledge of) when the book is "out of stock" or "out of print" and unless they self-publish may have difficulty keeping the book in print. And many worthwhile books do go out of print. I have in hand a copy of CRIERS AND KIBITZERS, KIBITZERS AND CRIERS by Stanley Elkin, a collection of short stories published in hardcover by Random House in 1966. In the preface, Elkin says, "Not counting down-time, when it was out-of-print, or the peculiar half-life when it was in that curious publisher's limbo, known to the trade ...as 'out-of-stock,' it has been in print under sundry imprimaturs (Berkley Medallion, Plume, Warner Books and, until I actually looked it up in BOOKS IN PRINT where I couldn't find it, I had thought Dutton's Obelisk editions, and, now [1990], Thunder's Mouth Press."

   At a time when the publishing conglomerates are ignoring midlist books in favor of the megabestsellers, why should writers suffer from the publishers' short-sightedness? "Midlist" books often contribute a great deal to the world's body of knowledge and the public may not recognize their merit soon enough to warrant a publisher's keeping them in print. The writer, who often spends years creating these works, deserves a chance to make them known to the world, or to that small part of the world that may value them if they ever hear of them.

   Pat McNees
   Contracts Committee
   American Society of Journalists & Authors    <pmcnees[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Mon Jul 27 1998 - 14:54:43 GMT