Re:Negotiators Lose Last Chance to Salvage the TPP by Caving...
by anigbrowl on Thursday February 05, 2015 @03:32PM
(#9005818)
If creators want to not have a limited right to exclusive use they should be allowed to give that up
They are. All someone has to do is include in it a statement to the effect of 'I waive my copyright interest in this work and hereby donate it to the public domain.' There is no bar on voluntary placement of work into the public domain; it just doesn't happen that often because when publishers write checks to authors they're purchasing the right to exploit the work commercially. Authors could grant publishers limited licenses to do so and then stipulate that the work would fall into the public domain after a certain date, but that would result in lowered payments from publishers, plus it creates an incentive for the publisher to under-market the work or even withhold it from sale, and then publish it once it enters the public domain without paying anything in royalties.
There are some publishers that make good money of just republishing historical works, even without exclusivity. Some people want a good-quality facsimile of an old book. Dover paperbacks springs to mind.
They are. All someone has to do is include in it a statement to the effect of 'I waive my copyright interest in this work and hereby donate it to the public domain.' There is no bar on voluntary placement of work into the public domain; it just doesn't happen that often because when publishers write checks to authors they're purchasing the right to exploit the work commercially. Authors could grant publishers limited licenses to do so and then stipulate that the work would fall into the public domain after a certain date, but that would result in lowered payments from publishers, plus it creates an incentive for the publisher to under-market the work or even withhold it from sale, and then publish it once it enters the public domain without paying anything in royalties.
There are some publishers that make good money of just republishing historical works, even without exclusivity. Some people want a good-quality facsimile of an old book. Dover paperbacks springs to mind.