PC-DOS 3.3

[Brian L. Stuart]

> This is one place the law needs to be changed.  Because copyright law is (by
> consititutional mandate in the U.S.) designed to advance "the useful arts
> and sciences" by making works available and by making sure that they end up
> in the public domain.  ...
> Frankly, if its out of print, the copyright owner has decided that it is not
> worth it for them to distribute it.   At that point, for the copyright
> holder to prevent distribution is unacceptable, even if it is legal.

On the whole, I tend to be sympathetic to this view.  This is one small
place where I have the opportunity to "put my money where my mouth
is."  I just recently signed a contract on a book.  One of the things I
asked of the publisher is that if they ever take it out of print, then I
can request that the copyright revert to me.  My intent is that the book
not disappear.  I would either release it through a self-publisher like
Lulu or just make it available on the net.  It turns out that certain other
details (like third party translations) get a little more complicated but
not in a way that harms my objectives.

So at least in one area, some of the players are pretty sane.  But then
again, books have generally been the most sane part of the copyright
scene.  If only software and music thought of their products like we
think of books...

Brian L. Stuart