[greglindahl]

Interestingly, in the UK paperback books have a little contract in the front saying you can't rebind them into hardbacks, while in the US such a contract is forbidden by the right of first sale. The moral is that these things are less obvious than one would think.

[TillE]

The UK certainly has some weird laws, but that sounds...of dubious validity. Like roughly the equivalent of "not for individual resale"; a contractual matter between the supplier and the merchant, not something that could even theoretically be enforced on any buyer.

[lmm]

UK copyright law is old and unusually strict. E.g. crown copyright can be perpetual.

[gubby]

I doubt strongly that this would have any effect either, for the same reason. My legal knowledge is a little old fashioned and sporadic, but the classic authority on this used to be 'Olley v Marlborough Court Hotel'. Worth a read, if only for the way Denning used to write his judgements.