This coming year marks the first time in two decades that a large body of copyrighted works will lose their protected status. This shift has the potential of profound consequences for publishers and literary estates, which stand to lose both money and creative control. The New York Times brought this very interesting topic to our attention in their article, “New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out.”
However for readers, the options just got grander. There will be more editions to choose from, as well as new stories based on classic works by writers and other artists who can now create without getting hit with an intellectual property lawsuit.
“Books are going to be available in a much wider variety now, and they’re going to be cheaper,” said Imke Reimers, an assistant professor of economics at Northeastern University who has studied the impact of copyright. “Consumers and readers are definitely going to benefit from this.”
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
