News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:How Google Book Search Got Lost by pbhjpbhj on Tuesday April 11, 2017 @02:44PM (#14091109)
>people who have neglected to renew copyrights //

Renewal, indeed registration, is largely a USA thing since the Berne Convention (adopted nearly everywhere before USA signed in 1988) did away with the need for registration in the 19th Century.

Worth bearing in mind, the USA as with "English" measurement is a good step out of line with the practice in the rest of the world. Any argument based on someone not registering is going to need completely rethinking outside USA.

Re:How Google Book Search Got Lost by ghaff on Tuesday April 11, 2017 @04:34PM (#14092191)
Fair enough. There have been proposals to make copyright terms shorter with renewal options but those aren't inherent in orphan works legislation.

In general, I favor orphan works legislation but there is both potential for abuse and ambiguity in how much effort will and should go into tracking down rights holders.