Hello. Most often I hear that the copyright of the book lasts 80 years after the death of author. But it is normal that the copyright is transferred to the publisher in the contract. Then why the copyright expiration is still tied to the author who don't have the copyright anymore? Is this misuse of copyright law? Should author keep the copyright (and publisher only license) so that the death+80 rule applies? That is most convenient to publishers, of course, because they get the copyright and its expiration is still tied to the author. In the example case, the book writing contract was made 8 years ago and the contract included the second edition published now. Because the publisher owns the copyright of the second edition already due the contract, the author has never owned the copyright. So how in this case the copyright expiration could never be tied to the author? Juhana