Re: Copyright Extension Bill Passes Congress

On 27 Oct 1998, Michael Scarpitti <mscarpit[_at_]asnt.org> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Oct 26, 1998, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > Edward Barrow <edward[_at_]plato32.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > >
> > > It is an unfortunate feature of the copyright debate in North
> > > America, and everywhere in academia, that the main beneficiaries
> > > of copyright are assumed to be publishers. The industry certainly
> > > depends on copyright to provide collateral for investment, but
> > > copyright law since the Statute of Anne has empowered authors
> > > above all.
> >
> > They are both, the creators and the investors, encouraged by
> > the exclusive authors' rights and the ability of the author
> > to negotiate. More security favors both just as less security
> > is unfavorable.
> >
> > I wouldn't be distracted by heat generated in the passion
> > of negotiating.
>
> But what about books out of print, eh?

Depending on your sources of statistics, I believe a third or more of books published each year are reprints. Many new books collect and revise earlier works, never counted as reprints in statistics.

If a book is not reprinted ad inifinitum it may be all or partically obsolete in the eyes of potential publishers.

The main beneficiary of all this is, of course, the public interest in fostering dissemination of knowledge.

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY <70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Thu Oct 29 1998 - 16:34:21 GMT