Re: copyright expiration as a spur to creativity

Mike Bradley <michael[_at_]vision-soft.com> wrote:
>
> Bob Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
> >
> > If a copyright owner decides to take a previously-published work out
> > of print, he does not lose his copyright, but he does lose the right
> > to obtain damages for infringement of the work during the time it is
> > unavailable.
>
> Oh, come on. This and the even worse loss-of-copyright proposal
> would be intolerable to creators. An author cannot force a publisher
> to keep his/her book in print. You're saying that while an author is
> looking for a new market for a book, anyone can copy and publish any
> part of it freely? And this as a spur to creativity?

    Mr Bradley makes a good point. We have been looking at this hypothetical narrowly, as a means of giving the public access to a work even when a publisher has denied such access by allowing the book to go out of print. But we have forgotten the author, who certainly shouldn't lose royalties merely because his publisher shelved his book. What, I wonder, might be a fairer system, to allow the person who needs a copy of an out-of-print work to obtain one without depriving the author of his royalty?

Bob Cumbow
<cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> Received on Wed Jul 29 1998 - 16:49:47 GMT