Re: the poor authors! they'll starve!
For all the flaws of the copyright system, the IA's action is cynical bullshit. Particularly at a time when many people are short of money they are literally undercutting the income stream for a lot of living authors - the vast, vast majority of the books in their archive are published in the last 30 years.
Half the commenters on this thread seem to think that because a few - and I mean so few you can name them - companies that own rights have abused the copyright system, that somehow the whole thing should be torn down and everything be free-as-in-fuck-you.
Creative works are subject to copyright so the author can make money from it. This is fair because writing a book(*) takes time and effort. I have friends and family who try to earn a living as authors, pro-photographers, and other creative types. None of them are bathing in champagne after cashing their royalty cheques.
(*) I am not talking about the vast sea of cut-n-paste shite that pervades amazon masquerading as content.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
