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El Reg reports
The US Copyright Office is asking the tech industry and members of the public to comment about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and in particular the rules governing copyright infringement.
Section 512 of the DMCA gives ISPs and internet hosts immunity from prosecution if material that infringes copyright, such as music tracks, is taken down promptly if the entity owning the rights to it protests. "Repeat infringers" are penalized.
[...] The DMCA was signed into law in 1998, and since then flaws have been consistently pointed out in the legislation, not least with section 512. So the Copyright Office wants to know how to improve things.
"The Office will consider the costs and burdens of the notice-and-takedown process on large- and small-scale copyright owners, online service providers, and the general public", the request reads.
"The Office will also review how successfully section 512 addresses online infringement and protects against improper takedown notices. To aid in this effort, and to provide thorough assistance to Congress, the Office is seeking public input on a number of key questions."
In the request for responses, the Office posits 28 questions it would like answered, including how the legislation is working in practice, what legal precedents are affecting its operation, and whether takedown notices are effective. It also asks for any academic studies on the matter.
[...] The guidelines for submissions will be posted on February 1 and the open period for comments ends on March 21, so there's plenty of time to get a submission ready. How much good this will do, however, remains to be seen.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 09 2016, @02:59PM
...thousands of Soylentils would be reading your work as we speak!
I strongly doubt it, this isn't the entertainment market. For anyone still reading:
o It is an engineering reference book, ~1000 pages and full of detailed explanations, algebra & trig. It's printed on quality paper and has a long lasting sewn binding (NOT textbook binding that is designed to fall apart after a year or so).
o A few dozen universities use it for a textbook and the publisher sells it to students for under $100, considerably less than a typical college textbook.
o I depend on my publisher because the publishing contract was signed in 1993 (book is (C) 1995). In exchange for royalties, they have exclusive rights to the book as long as they keep it in print.
o The publisher has done a good job of honoring their side of the contract including advertizing the book very effectively to the target/niche audience (which is not IT). In the face of rising prices, they have maintained high quality printing/binding over a dozen reprints (a few thousand copies each printing).
Would I sign a similar contract with a publisher if I was writing this book now? Of course not, the publishing world has changed. Some other arrangement would be needed, perhaps a corporate sponsor. Would I stick with paper, probably yes, the ability to stick in post-its, write in the margin, and turn actual pages feels right to me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 09 2016, @06:53PM
Lindeburg! Is that you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 09 2016, @07:40PM
> ...but you'd be best off offering to sell them what they want.
You forgot the bit about signing a publishing contract (back in 1993). If there is going to be an ebook version, that's up to the publisher -- I have no direct control over that. This particular publisher hasn't done very well with ebooks for their other titles, I think it's less than 10% of sales.
I did say that if there is ever "volume 2" (not all that likely), my preference would be to have it on paper, at least initially.