Curses on Copyright

Here is an example of what I write about frequently, copyright renewals that doom a book to obscurity, books that hardly anyone cares about for which the rights owner is not obvious but desperately need to be put online. The case in point is Methodology of the Social Sciences by Felix Kauffman, a member of the Mises Circle (the guy who wrote all the songs too). It was published in German in 1936 and English in 1944. Some family member renewed in 1971, thereby dooming it to an early grave. Fortunately, Amazon carries one copy. After that is gone, who knows what happens? What precisely do people think they are protecting when they do these renewals? Keeping the vandals away from precious family relics? Who knows. And yes, I would be happy to send an email to the owners to ask for permission — will they ask for money? — but this hump alone is enough to keep classics offline for decades.