Sometimes I wonder if in the age of print-on-demand, copyright should also be an obligation to make something available.

If you made that the law people would simply sell it at $100 billion dollars.

I know, it would probably be impossible to get it right. But with POD, it really sucks if publishers withhold some important works from the public.

Maybe the law could be that if the publisher doesn't make it available within a reasonable timeframe, it become legal to offer it as POD edition.

I think it would probably take a court challenge for that to happen. That being said, I think a court challenge would probably have a good chance at succeeding, especially if you were offering a copyrighted piece up without financial reward.

Big pockets required for that one though... perhaps when I'm rich. :)

The comments are really interesting.