Warning to any and all writers who’ve had a story published in France.
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) has launched a doubtful venture reminiscent of the one Google tried to launch a few years ago. They’ve decided that if a book published in the 20th century is out of print, they have a right to publish it as an ebook and reap the profits (a pittance is due to the original publisher, and, oh, yeah, to the author, too). Despite the protests of French writers, the thing has been launched this week, with the creation of a website featuring a database of approx. 60,000 books liable to get the pirate ebook treatment (State approved, that is) unless the author or legal representative files a formal complaint.
Yeah, you say, but this is only for French writers, right?
Wrong.
They’ve done such a botched job listing the books they feel they can steal that they’ve included anthologies edited by French editors but featuring British and American writers.
A case in point: “De sang et d’encre“, edited by Léa Silhol and published by Naturellement in 1999 (the publisher has gone bankrupt since). With stories by Neil Gaiman, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Lawrence Schimel, Brian Stableford, Brian Lumley, Charles de Lint, S. P. Somtow, Brian Hodge, Nancy Kilpatrick, Nancy Holder, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Freda Warrington, Bob Weinberg.
Writers, check out the site and contact your agent to put a stop to this act of piracy.
You have six months to act.
More info here (French): http://relire.bnf.fr/projet-relire-cadre-legal
~Courtesy of Scott M. Goriscak
Geoff Brown -Writer 
News are spreading fast! All for the best.
I confirm about my Anthology / short stories collection. Writers trapped in this mesh may contact me and will get my full support, needless to say.
Extra info for the 300+ American and English writers that I edited or published : *none* of my other anthologies figures on this first list, for now. And I will keep a keen eye on updates, and forward the info to the ‘victims’ when it’s possible.
thanks for your blog.
Cheers!
LS/
I found your post courtesy of the ReLIRE Bay team. I’m glad to see the word is getting out.
I wrote about another example and have listed some additional sources of information in English on my blog here. A number of people have also contributed useful information in the comments. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to mention that here. It’s doubly hard for writers who not only aren’t aware of the new law in France, but don’t have easy access to helpful resources because of the language barrier.