Ever since we entered the world of digital publishing the publishing contract's "out-of-print" clause has lost meaning. So long as there exists an electronic copy, the work never goes out of print, or so goes the argument of the publisher.

The normal way of combating that neutering of the clause is to substitute a minimum number of sales to replace the old out-of-print clause. So if the publisher didn't report sales of at least say 500 units in any reporting period, the work would be considered out-of-print. 

Well, that worked until last week when Simon & Schuster announced it would retain exclusive control over books even after they had gone out of print or after their sales had fallen below a specified level. Staff at the Authors Guild blew the whistle saying "Simon & Schuster is apparently seeking nothing less than an exclusive grant of rights in perpetuity."

After the Authors Guild blew their cover, S&S said gee, I don't know why they are making such a big deal out of this. We are just constantly searching for ways to expand the technologies and sell more and more books for our authors. With print on demand technology we figure we can go on selling a book here, a book there forever. "We are embracing print-on-demand technology as an unprecedented opportunity for authors and publishers to keep their books alive and available and selling in the marketplace..." and blah, blah, blah.

S&S concludes by saying "We would like the author and agent community to know that, when necessary (and we hope it never is), we have always had good faith negotiations on the subject of reversions, and will continue to on a book-by-book basis." (Parenthetical comment added by author)

The bottom line is: