4 ms·

Abandoning a book doesn't mean it is treated as garbage. You may have made the conscious decision of not pursuing the marketing of a book for any number of reas

• Natsu 16y ago
  > Abandoning a book doesn't mean it is treated as garbage. Can you name any other object that one might abandon without treating it as garbage? An abandoned house may be claimed by squatters. Abandoned goods are recycled or trashed. Abandoned cars are sold or junked. Why should books be different? Why should we not conclude that they have abandoned their rights? Why should we respect it when, after someone does work to turn their words into something valuable, they show up to assert rights? I honestly don't see how this is different from someone wanting a cut of the money made from recycling garbage they had no intention of recycling. If it was art, if they truly loved it, they would never be so crass as to abandon it until there was money to be had. If their art was like their children, orphan works would be just that. Their author abandoned them on a street corner somewhere in a bad part of town and didn't care one bit about them until they heard they were a success, after which time they returned to beg money off them. On the other hand, I suppose that the alternative, that is having their works die of obscurity, is a fitting punishment for authors like that. It's their work I feel sorry for.