Older publishing contracts typically stated that a work was “in print” as long as it remained “available through standard retail channels.” Tying “in print” status to availability worked fine in the pre-ebook world, because all “available” books were in physical formats. However, in the ebook context, language tying in-print status to availability means that a book will never go out of print. A publisher could simply leave the ebook available for sale through Amazon (or other sources) and it would remain “available” forever.
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