The Internet has created new possibilities for distributing previously out-of-print writings. At the same time, the United States and many other countries have greatly extended the length of copyright. The result is that writings that are valuable for the advancement of knowledge but that have very small readership are copyrighted for decades longer than was envisioned when they were written. Some works that were out of copyright have even gone back into copyright. Publishers have made some works accessible behind pay walls, but others remain unavailable in any legal digitized form.
To prevent such a fate from ever befalling The Bretton Woods Transcripts, Andrew Rosenberg and I have voluntarily limited our claim of copyright to the electronic version of the book to ten years. Starting in 2023, anybody will be able to reproduce the electronic version provided that he distributes it to readers for free. Few scholarly books will ever be big sellers, especially a decade after their first publication. We recommend voluntary, binding limitation of copyright claims as a way for other scholars to balance the benefits of whatever royalties their work might generate against the benefits of having the work readily available, clear of any legal entanglements from copyright.
(Andrew and I will retain other rights not important for scholarship, including the movie rights. Steven Spielberg, call us. We have in mind Daniel Day-Lewis to portray John Maynard Keynes, with Steve Buscemi as Harry Dexter White.)