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Got this email a few days ago. It's from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, an organization I belong to. It has a few small perks, including some lawyer muscle:
Quote:Hi, Gary, I wanted to see if you had authorized the copy of your work
that's posted on the Internet at
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://nogoodthingeverdies.blogspot.com">http://nogoodthingeverdies.blogspot.com</a><!-- m --> .
We're pretty sure these are all unauthorized copies from
Scifi.com/scifiction
per Ellen Datlow, but we need to confirm you didn't grant permission.
If you want it removed, we'd be glad to get it taken down. ("We" being
the SFWA Electronic Piracy Committee.) Just say the word.
(If you want us to remove your work whenever we find it, we can do that
too
if you so request.)
Cheers,
Dr. Andrew Burt
(SFWA VP)
An intriguing dilemma. Do I allow someone to post my novella without my permission, which will gain me some visibility, or do I shut the bastard down? I chose the latter.
After all, while information may want to be free, the house, groceries, health care, etc., don't seem to be headed in the same direction.
--cranefly (good enough to be pirated)
P.S. It's still up on the site, though not for long, if you haven't read it and want to.
I'm nobody's pony.
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CF, I would reply to your post but I am afraid you would sic your piranha-like attorneys on me.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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You Sir, have just proved that your allegiance is with the Ninjas!
As a Pirate, we are now mortal enemies!
Seriously, I firmly believe (and I think there are statistics that back me up, as well as some that prove me wrong), that exposure == more sales.
I've illegally downloaded movies and music for years, then purchased legit copies of the stuff I really like. You've seen my DVD collection. Do you think I would have bought a lot of that stuff without seeing it first? Case in point 'Idiocracy'. If that movie hadn't been spread around via BitTorrent it would not have the cult following (and DVD sales) that it has today.
Of course I understand literature is a different animal. A film is usually not distributed in DVD quality with all the extras you'd find on a commercial release. Books can be posted with all the letters intact.
I used to read 'Omni' magazine back in the day (Bob 'Penthouse' Guccione's foray into science and science-fiction). Some of the short stories were fantastic and I want to read them again, but alas, there is no online 'Omni' repository and no internet user has made the effort to illegally post them.
So you have only one option. Post them on your site, put a 'PayPal Donation' button up and see what happens...
![[Image: magpie13.gif]](http://imagegen.last.fm/LastfmLiveJournal/recenttracks/magpie13.gif)
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it's easy to find your writing repubbed. just plug a key sentence in a search engine and let it run. our general policy is that we're fine with web repubs as long as they post a © for KFM along with a hyperlink. if not, we give them the ol' cease and desist. the only exception is porn sites, but then again, my research with the iron crotch has me up on a lot of porn sites. try for the credit link first.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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FWIW, at the forums where I'm on staff, we don't permit repubs at all, with or without a © or a link to the original. We request a copy of author's written permission and if they can't provide it, the repub is deleted.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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How hard it is to add that? If the site isn't willing to make the link, give them the cease and desist. If so, you're golden. You've just got a little more exposure on the worldwide web.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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I found this article (following links from another story online):
http://tim.oreilly.com/pub/a/p2p/2002/12/11/piracy.html
and found it quite interesting.
the hands that guide me are invisible
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That was a good article.
My basic feeling is that if someone wants to enjoy an artist's work they should be able to, whether they can afford it or not.
You only live once and you should grab as much from life as you can, regardless of local and federal copyright laws.
As for artists whining about not getting paid for their work I usually tell them, "Give it up - You're obviously doing it for all the wrong reasons".
Haggis Killer
Unregistered
By that argument, your boss could decide to stop paying you for what you do and keep the money for themselves. What right would you have to complain? It's ok, by your logic, for an artist to remain unpaid for their work and effort. Why should any other job category be protected from the same fate?
Just because someone pursues an art interest as a career doesn't mean they're silly and shouldn't expect to be paid for their effort. Art is work. Stealing someone's art - even if the rights to collect the money for that art have been relegated to a corporation - is still stealing.
If the internet didn't exist and you wanted to steal with the same carefree sense that so many internet users do, you wouldn't really be surprised if you were arrested for stealing, would you? I mean, you'd be stealing, right? Go-to-store-want-cd-steal-cd. Get arrested. Not really surprising.
Why does a computer interface make it ok to steal? Books, movies, music, images. They're all created by someone. What gives any of us the right to have it for nothing, other than the effort of a few mouse clicks?
I still go to bookstores and buy books. If I COULD download all books for free, I probably still wouldn't because I like to read in bed. And laptops are uncomfortable to use in bed. And if you fall asleep, your laptop falls off your bed and you're buying a new laptop. But wait; I can steal art, music, movies and literature over the internet - why not a new laptop? Heck, I'll just go next door and take my neighbors' laptop. For me: New laptop! What else matters? Naw. I'll keep the books. They're tactile.
If you Choose to put your art up on the internet for all and sundry; great. You Chose that. If you Choose that your art should remit you some cash money and be paid for by users? If: no one Chooses buys it, ok, no money. If: lots of people Choose to buy it, whee!
If: everybody Chooses to steal it?
That's ok with everyone?
Can't agree.
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Random thoughts on ED's comment:
Is part of the problem that some "artists" are so grossly overpaid compared to the vast majority? And that non-artists in the distribution chain have an overlarge share of profit?
I know that I've seen many crap paintings (in my opinion) selling for many times what I charge, and I think that I must be selling mine too cheap. But I have no "name" in the/any art world, and many people apparently don't see the value of the work itself, only the perceived value of the name. But it is nice to at least make back the materials cost, although an emphasis on production and payment can certainly make the art suffer. (Second album slump?)
Scott Adams' has some interesting comments on giving away content:
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/1...re_co.html
And the "new economy" web startups that gave the content away all failed. If you want to make a living then you have to get paid. (That still stands in the way of me painting all day.)
Of course in the music business (as I understand it) the record company makes almost all the profit on the recordings, and the band makes money on the touring and merchandise. So theoretically musicians could well afford to give away some music to get a larger audience for the shows. Signing with a promoter, as Madonna did, may be a way many will go in the future.
Free content for exposure worked pretty well for the Arctic Monkeys in the beginning, but I imagine they aren't giving much away anymore. So is the art/music business model to give them a little so they get a taste for it, and then make them pay for it?
the hands that guide me are invisible
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Haggis Killer Wrote:By that argument, your boss could decide to stop paying you for what you do and keep the money for themselves. What right would you have to complain? It's ok, by your logic, for an artist to remain unpaid for their work and effort. Why should any other job category be protected from the same fate?
I was 'commissioned' by my boss and there is a mutually agreed upon compensation for my work. Commissions, patrons and sponsors are all AOK in my book.
Hell - I commissioned work from KB!
Quote:Just because someone pursues an art interest as a career doesn't mean they're silly and shouldn't expect to be paid for their effort. Art is work. Stealing someone's art - even if the rights to collect the money for that art have been relegated to a corporation - is still stealing.
If the internet didn't exist and you wanted to steal with the same carefree sense that so many internet users do, you wouldn't really be surprised if you were arrested for stealing, would you? I mean, you'd be stealing, right? Go-to-store-want-cd-steal-cd. Get arrested. Not really surprising.
Stealing is awesome. People should really steal more. Material possessions are the bane of civilization.
Quote:Why does a computer interface make it ok to steal? Books, movies, music, images. They're all created by someone. What gives any of us the right to have it for nothing, other than the effort of a few mouse clicks?
Because it makes it easy to 'copy' without stealing. Much better to think your actions are not harming the 'owner' if the owner doesn't even know you're 'stealing' his stuff!
Quote:I still go to bookstores and buy books. If I COULD download all books for free, I probably still wouldn't because I like to read in bed. And laptops are uncomfortable to use in bed. And if you fall asleep, your laptop falls off your bed and you're buying a new laptop. But wait; I can steal art, music, movies and literature over the internet - why not a new laptop? Heck, I'll just go next door and take my neighbors' laptop. For me: New laptop! What else matters? Naw. I'll keep the books. They're tactile.
I buy books too, for the same reasons. Not necessarily because I want to put more money in the pocket of Stephen King or George R.R. Martin.
I wish they could go on tour like bands and sell their books from the back of a van. If I knew they were getting 100% of the money (minus printing cost) I would feel much better about shelling out the green.
Quote:If you Choose to put your art up on the internet for all and sundry; great. You Chose that. If you Choose that your art should remit you some cash money and be paid for by users? If: no one Chooses buys it, ok, no money. If: lots of people Choose to buy it, whee!
Once you put it out there you have relinquished control and given it to humanity. Throw all the tantrums you want, but there is this inconvenient truth called 'reality'.
Quote:If: everybody Chooses to steal it?
That's ok with everyone?
Can't agree.
Denying it to those that can't (or won't) pay for it is better?
I guess you and I have different opinions about quality-of-life.
If you were a farmer who had his harvest physically stolen on his way to market I would totally agree with you, but stealing 'intellectual property' is just so much whining to me. Get a real job if you can't handle people enjoying your pictures, words or music without paying a hefty fee.
And I don't buy the 'Art is Work' argument. Work is digging a ditch. Very few ditch-diggers enjoy their work and even fewer do it on weekends for fun. Yes art requires manual, mental and emotional labor but from what I hear it's a passionate endeavor that many do without being paid for it.
I call for a cultural revolution. Let every man, woman and child download copyrighted media to their heart's content! Share it with your friends, family and neighbors! Force artists to find new avenues of revenue!
Maybe when the various media industries are forced to go hungry they will rethink the way they have treated consumers over the years.
AVAST YE MPAA AND RIAA! PREPARE TO BE BOARDED! ARRRGGGHH!
I am now going to go play my radio real loud so that others can hear my ILLEGAL UNAUTHORIZED PERFORMANCE! See you in prison!
Haggis Killer
Unregistered
...as long as you don't mind going to jail, you might as well have something pertinent to read.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i5eca1b5094193b55d919be0a5b7413dd">http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 0a5b7413dd</a><!-- m -->
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You all know my stand on media distribution, once it's published it belongs to the world.
This is an interesting take on the new buzz over Amazon's Kindle and eBook distribution:
The Future of Reading
Lending books (or CDs or DVDs) is a crime, Citizen!
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I'm watching the disclaimers at the beginning of a DVD and it occurred to me why weren't they written in Mandarin or Cantonese? Just asking.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit
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