The New York Public Library has developed a novel, permission-based approach to try to bring potentially in-copyright “orphan works” of scholarship back into general availability. The problem, as they have identified through a variety of efforts, is that often neither the author not the publisher is certain whose permission is needed to digitize and make available out-of-print or otherwise commercially dormant books that may still be covered by copyright. And the expense — and potential liability — of doing the research or granting permission without certainty about the rights makes the risks outweigh the potential benefits of agreeing to republication. […]
