OT: How come WE don't get on-line libraries like this?

[Victor Steinbok]

Just words, Wilson. I did say the statements were not entirely
accurate--never claimed they were in error.

     VS-)

On 1/24/2012 2:38 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> I was purposely aiming only for truthiness. Besides, what was supposed
> to catch your attention was the existence of the Digital Library of
> Sardinia, a backwater region of Italy, and the fact that nothing like
> it is available in the United States at any price, let alone at no
> price, not inconsequential editorializing as to why that is the case..
>
> Needless to say, the Sardinian site is under the auspices of the
> regional government. Or, as some might look at it, the money is taken
> from the pockets of the Italian taxpayer by a government controlled by
> tax-&-spend liberals with nothing but contempt for the publishing
> business and brick-&-mortar bookstores and even hard-copy libraries.
>
> And, once again, think "truthiness," not "error."
>
> --
> -Wilson
>
> On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 12:29 AM, Victor Steinbok<aardvark66 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> Well, the first part has nothing to do with the law--and I am not sure
>> how accurate it is in any case. A reprint of a work in public domain
>> cannot remove that work from the public domain as it does not grant the
>> re-printer the copyright for the original text. The new copyright is
>> only for any additional material--be it preface, historical essay of
>> some sort, commentary and artwork. Index is not copyrightable in any
>> case, even if it is new. So, if Google makes that decision, they don't
>> make it based on law.
>>
>> The second part is also not entirely accurate either. The case has
>> already been decided. The rules are essentially set. And it only applies
>> to a small fraction of works that have slipped out of copyright in the
>> US but are still under copyright elsewhere (and not even all of those).
>> So the problem is not with the law per se so much as with the
>> unnecessary complexity previously introduced into the copyright
>> statutes. That fixed now, Congress can proceed to finally stop extending
>> the copyright period beyond any sensible limit.

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