As an interesting counterpoint to the possible issues to be faced in the digital Revolution of books, consider the copyright loopholes faced by Tolkien during the Paperback Revolution. When JRR Tolkien came out with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, US Copyright laws were not rigorous enough to prevent the unauthorized publishing of another person's work to paperback.
In early 1965 it became known that Ace Books, an American publisher, intented to publish a paperback version of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, without the consent of the British author or publisher. Despite efforts to pre-empt this move, Tolkien and his publisher were not able to publish an authorised paperback version before Ace released its own version. Because they did not need to pay royalties, the book sold for a mere seventy-five cents, and became an instant hit among previously unreachable college students.
With no legal rights to sue or stop Ace Books, Tolkien went straight to the readers. In responses to fan mail (which he wrote regularly anyway) he began to include a small note, informing them that the Ace edition was unauthorised. As word of mouth travelled, devoted fans (members of "The Tolkien Society of America") pressured bookstores to stop carrying unauthorised versions of the trilogy. The Science Fiction Writers of America addressed the issue by pressuring Ace Books directly. Eventually, Ace contacted Tolkien personally, offering him royalties for the books they published and indicating that they would stop future printings of his book.
Last modified: Mon Jun 5 07:31:11 PDT 2000