SC - Melted Cheese

[Elysant@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/9/99 2:23:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, tori at panix.com 
writes:

<< We have a cookbook we published from that era...its out of print,  >>

Considering the recent upsurge in interest in period cookery I would think 
that reprinting would be a service to the Society or at the very least 
putting it on-line or offering to make copies for those who may be interested.

Thanks for opening the door for me to  ramble on about one of the things that 
upsets me the most about the academic world or, more precisely, the 
publishing world in general. I find it puzzling that books are purposely kept 
out of print when interest is shown. A perfect example is the Flowers and 
Rosenbaum translation of Apicius. That particular book is unarguably the best 
known work of it's genre but for whatever reasons, it is kept out of print. 
Several letters from me to the publisher and the estate have went totally 
unanswered. 

A recent proposal of mine sent to my Congressman suggested that the copyright 
laws be changed to place a work in public domain if the copyright holder did 
not maintain a reprint of the work every 10 years. Or to allow for the 
copying of any work that was listed as 'Out of Print' with the work being 
officially designated as abandoned by the original copyright owner. Other 
possible solutions to withholding information by purposely keeping a work 
'out of print' was the suggestion that publicists be required by law to 
provide a photocopy of the work at the cost of copying to those who requested 
one.

I don't know what, if any other, solutions to this problem would be but, 
hopefully, it will cause those that have the power to see if there are any 
real solutions to it. 

Again none of the above is meant as a reflection on the MCG and should not be 
construed as such. It is a statement on the publishing world in general.

Ras
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