Book People Archive

RE: First Yeats; Now Frost

With all due respect, I must disagree with Bea ...  if republication of =
these texts violated copyright law, then I believe her stance is valid. =
Absent that, however, Henry Holt is just a large company that is using =
its legal department to bully, badger, threaten and intimidate someone =
whose actions are well within the law. Any legal posturing and litigious =
behavior is not only groundless, but also irresponsible.

I submit that the contention that Frost's works are available at =
libraries and bookstores, thus justifying Holt's position is likewise =
flawed ... Penguin, Oxford University Press, Everyman's and a dozen =
other highly successful publishing houses are, at this very moment, =
distributing vast amounts of public domain data, with or without =
commentary. Having an ever increasing amount of Frost's (or anyone =
else's) works go into the public domain will likely expand distribution, =
not contract it.

And finally, on the notion of saving something for one's estate ... =
nothing is more destructive than inherited wealth ... I expect Robert =
Frost would agree.

James W. Johnston
johnston@[redacted]

Henry Holt is doing a good job of saving Robert Frost's poetry for his
estate. It is very inexpensive to pick up a paperback edition of Frost's
poetry. Also, his works are easily available at most libraries.=20
I applaud them.

Bea

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