Re: Neat summary of Google strategy

On Jun 19, 2009, at 6:55 AM, Chris wrote:

> On Mon, 8 Jun 2009, Marion Gropen wrote:
>
>> -- Works DO go into the public domain eventually, so it's not  
>> as if there will never be the possibility of re-issuing them.
>
> This is certainly true if you simply don't know how to track down
> heirs who are rightsholders. However - how does this work if
> everyone has lost track of the author? If there is no definitive
> report of an author's death, when does "life+X" start counting
> down?

There are six Mary E Tylers on Facebook alone. I know of another Mary  
E Tyler who is also an author (she writes poetry and lives in Ohio)-- 
in 150 years, will anyone be able to track down my heirs or hers or  
know which is which? Then of course, there's the famous Mary E Tyler  
who had a little lamb so long ago (Mary Elizabeth Stanton's maiden  
name was Tyler). Now, 80 years from now, when I die, what happens if  
my will doesn't mention my copyrights? How are they distributed when  
no one even remembers I owned any? And 100 years from now, when  
someone goes looking for my heir, will they have to pull the long  
archived will--and guess where it was probated? I mean, honestly, it's  
a bit more difficult than making a phone call or doing an internet  
search... particularly since EVERYTHING is copyrighted including  
emails without the need to register it.

And recently, a book got scanned that happened to be public domain, a  
history of the Tyler family written in the late 19-teens (so JUST out  
of copyright). There's ONE like it and most of the information  
contained therein is located nowhere else. Ten years ago, when the  
book was still under copyright, i went looking for a copy. There were  
two known copies in the US. Both were in library collections where you  
had to travel to see them. One was unavailable even there because of  
how fragile it was. The university wanted a $300 "donation" to restore  
the book, but even that wouldn't get me a copy.

To say that books are interchangeable is facile and doesn't look very  
deeply into the fact that there ARE irreplaceable books out there and  
that finding heirs 70 years after death is just a bit more difficult  
than people like to represent it being. Who's to say I wasn't the heir  
to the long ago Tyler who wrote that long ago genealogy?

dej

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn to use Google Analytics to make your web site more effective.
Buy my book! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047017501X/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I loathe writing. On the other hand I'm a great believer in money."  
-- S.J. Perelman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the midst of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there  
lay an invincible summer.
--Albert Camus
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am Writer, hear me Pontificate!





------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Post a message:   ebook-community [[at]] *
Unsubscribe:      ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *
Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *
Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *
Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *
Administrator:    ebook-community-owner [[at]] *

(* == yahoogroups.com)
-------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:[email protected] 
    mailto:ebook-community-fullfeatured-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ebook-community-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/