Usually, the agreement you strike with a publisher specifies that rights revert to the author, once they've declared the book "out of print". I think I have a letter to that effect on the 2nd edition of my pheasant book, from Countrysport. And I did the 1st edition with a different publisher, so obviously I got the rights back.
University of Wisconsin Press has just brought out a book on grouse hunting. Of course university presses are often a decade or two behind the times . . .
The silver screen, in comparison to other forms of entertainment/media, is still in relatively good shape. Look at newspapers, magazines, and music sales. Hollywood's still doing OK. DVD or no, people still seem to want to go to the movies. Although the business has changed a bunch, with the multiplexes and their smaller theaters.
