Will e-books prevent books from going out of print (and rights from reverting)?

Question

In the old days, books went out of print shortly after it stopped being profitable for the publisher to print new runs. My understanding is that good contracts had clauses that caused the rights to the book to revert to the author once it had been out of print for a certain length of time.Nowadays, e-books seem to be a standard part of contracts. E-books essentially put all the publisher's costs up-front, and make it very inexpensive to keep the electronic version of a book in print indefinitely.Does this allow publishers to keep books "in print" forever and prevent the rights from reverting to the author, even when the book isn't selling? Is it common for modern contracts to include language that allows the rights to revert if sales drop below a certain threshold?

Answer 1

That is a good question. Today's youth is growing toward electronics more and more as the future comes for the conveniences: multiple books in multiple objects (laptop, cellphone, tablet--all three at once [I'm guilty]). I must admit I prefer actual books and there are many people like me who enjoy the physics of books. You can actually develop bonds with books you appreciate. Don't get me wrong, I use Kindle for the convenience, but there will always be those who want to lay back on the couch, in a room of silence, after a hard day of work; to just hold those pieces of paper; to listen to the waves break as each page carries the reader into the depths of the story; to lie there as if the reader is on a raft, petting one's dog as if it is an otter--you can't do that electronically. Pressing those buttons to flip the pages just isn't the same. Barnes and Noble uses the electronic books as a solution of not having to keep such a stock of books in their stores; granted, you have the option of ordering physical books online, but for those who want their books immediately--this is it. More and more colleges are using electronic textbooks for the convenience as well as environmental matters (I saw students using their phones as textbooks). The question should be is whether or not this will put publishing companies out of business. The company I was editor-in-chief for was put out of business by Amazon because of their costs for the independent writers--both electronically and actual books. I hope I made you laugh and inform you, Kyle