RE: Neat summary of Google strategy

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From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Marion Gropen
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 8:45 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ebook-community] Neat summary of Google strategy

 







On Jun 8, 2009, at 7:35 AM, Mary E Tyler wrote:
>
> Which would have ALL been solved had congress done something useful 
> with orphan works in the last session. They refused to. Orphan works 
> are a BIG problem. Google's settlement may not be the best route, but
> it's the only one that's actually been worked out by anyone. At some 
> point, SOMETHING must be done about orphan works.

I'm not sure I agree with that statement.

Consider:
-- If the work has significant uses or is artistically important or is 
valuable for another reason, it is highly unlikely that it would be 
orphaned. The ownership of those rights would be important enough that 
the records would be kept updated.
-- Works DO go into the public domain eventually, so it's not as if 
there will never be the possibility of re-issuing them.
-- There are always a LOT of alternative works that could be used. 
It's just not very likely that you've found the one and only work that 
fits your need. It's a classic newbie mistake to think that his or her 
book is unique, and I think it would be similarly off-base to think 
that an orphan work is irreplaceable.

Yes, it's inconvenient when the excerpt you want to quote is in a work 
you can't quite get permissions for. I'm not sure that this 
inconvenience rises to the level of a societal problem.

Yes, you can't reissue some obscure old works that might have new 
relevance, but there are literally millions of obscure old works to 
choose from. It's inconvenient, but not tragic, I think.

If copyright weren't in such flux right now, I might agree that we 
should take steps to bring orphaned works, with fairly stringent 
definitions of that status, back into play. As it is now, given the 
trampling of struggling authors and small presses, I suspect such 
legislation will be both irrelevant because the issue will be decided 
in the courts by a small subset of the effected parties AND stretched 
unrecognizably by others.

It's interesting to realize that we have something akin to a religious 
war going on in IP these days. Both sides are driven by ideals and 
fervor, and are sure that the opposition is driven by greed and malign 
intentions. I just love fanatics, don't you? Next we'll have IP 
fatwas, and suicide logic bombers. Or something.

Back on topic, I'd rather see us all sit tight and wait to see how the 
landscape looks after some of the seismic shifts settle down.

Marion Gropen
Gropen Associates, Inc.
By-The-Question Consulting, Tools for Publishers, & Classes
www.GropenAssoc.com
Her blog: www.GropenAssoc.com/blog





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