Re: copyright expiration as a spur to creativity

On 29, July 1998, Robert Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
>
> 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?

I might add that the biggest obstacle to the exchange of information is books being out of print: that's what we should be concerned with!

Michael A Scarpitti
Assistant Editor
Materials Evaluation
1711 Arlingate Lane
PO Box 28518
Columbus, Ohio 43228-0518
800 222-2768 Ext 207
614 274-6003 Ext 207
Fax 614 274-6899
<mscarpit[_at_]asnt.org> Received on Thu Jul 30 1998 - 14:26:39 GMT