Fwd: Please Stand Against the New Copyright Bill

Wed Aug 27 13:12:19 UTC 2008

Unfortunately, Scott I can't agree with you.  The ideal world you're 
talking about is pretty ugly to me, ligation, distrust and revenge.  And 
the legal system doesn't work the way you are describing: lawsuits are 
for the wealthy--if you can't feed your family, you certainly can't hire a 
lawyer for $3,000 to get $50 for a stolen manuscript.

No, I think we're better off without that kind of world.

Ken B.

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008, Scott C. Ripley wrote:

>
>> I'm not sure that was explained well.  Like I said, read the article.
>
> i wouldn't have commented if i hadn't read your article...
>
>> Not really.  I'm far more concerned at the low royalty rates paid to 
>> authors: an author writes the book, but the vast majority of the money goes 
>> to the big corporate publisher.  I also elude to this in the article.
>
> big companies do make a lot of money off of creative people (musicians, 
> authors, etc.) by means of record contracts, publishing contracts, etc.
>
> i do imagine that for most creative people, the contracts favour the big 
> companies, and it's only the truly big stars who can negotiate more 
> favourable arrangements...
>
> however, imagine a world where:
>
> - there are no more traditional book publishers or record companies:
>    - authors/musicians/film-makers/etc. are able to publish/distribute
>      their own music/books/films leveraging the internet
>    - marketing of their books/music/films is accomplished via the internet:
>        - social networks, youtube, internet radio, and
>          other not yet-created mechanisms
>
> it seems reasonable to me that these authors/musicians/film-makers/etc. 
> should have the right to "control" (define control: take action against 
> people who don't have the right to distribute) their work...
>
> so if i write a book and i'm making it available for purchase at a reasonable 
> price in a e-book format on my web site (no DRM) and some person decides to 
> make a copy of it available for free - thus robbing me of the way that i'm 
> feeding my family - i hope i would be able to take some sort of legal action 
> to restore my revenue stream.
>
> (and to be clear, i think:
>  - DRM sucks
>  - purchased music/video/e-books, etc. should be transferable
>    from device to device for personal use by the individual who bought
>    them
>  - like any legislation, there are aspects of Bill C-60 that i'm fine
>    with and other aspects that i take issue with
>  - the suggestions for improving C-60 on:
>      http://www.digital-copyright.ca/billc60/Consumer_Fact_Sheet.shtml
>    seem reasonable to me)
>
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008, Ken O. Burtch wrote:
>
>> 
>> I don't think I can write a convincing reply, but you asked how I felt 
>> about the impact of electronic copies of my book.  Colin could probably 
>> argue it better.
>> 
>> I once slid my car into a ditch and walked down the road for help.  The 
>> farmer said he'd pull me out if I paid him $20.  When I didn't have that 
>> much money, he took down my drivers license and threatened to take me to 
>> court if he helped me and I didn't pay him.  I don't want to live in a 
>> world like that, where people are vicitmized in the name of turning a 
>> profit.
>> 
>> As I wrote in the article, there is a difference between making something 
>> freely available and being paid for your effort.  My book IS freely 
>> available, legally or not, on file sharing servers.  I'm earning acceptable 
>> royalties from book sales.  Why would I want to charge somebody 15 cents 
>> every time they quoted an example from my book, or giving examples about 
>> what a great book it was to their friends?  That's part of what this bill 
>> is about.  It's not just about electronic copies. We're already paying 
>> money to music companies when we burn our Linux DVD's and that makes me 
>> ashamed of being Canadian.  And does anyone remember the DVD decryption 
>> fiasco fueled by corporate greed and the DMCA?
>> 
>> In the IT industry today, people are often overworked and underpaid and 
>> underappreciated.  Everyone wants to make more money, get more respect. 
>> But it seems to me that earning a living and charging for electronic copies 
>> are two entirely different issues.  Do I want to earn money to pay for my 
>> food and rent during the time I wrote my book? Sure.  Do I think the best 
>> revenue stream is to launch an attack on the changing nature of technology 
>> and create laws that pimarily target the poor?  Not really.  I'm far more 
>> concerned at the low royalty rates paid to authors: an author writes the 
>> book, but the vast majority of the money goes to the big corporate 
>> publisher.  I also elude to this in the article.
>> 
>> I don't see free electronic copying as an attempt to exploit creative 
>> people. The bill is not an attempt to help people to earn a living.  It's a 
>> money grab by the rich targetting the poor that will leave Canada in the 
>> electronic dark ages, a legal morass.  In my opinion, the bill will 
>> actually cost authors like me money.
>> 
>> I'm not sure that was explained well.  Like I said, read the article.
>> 
>> Ken B.
>> 
>> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008, Scott C. Ripley wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Ken,
>>> 
>>> as an author of a book...
>>> 
>>> are you fine with someone making (or do you make?) an electronic copy 
>>> freely available?
>>> 
>>> Scott
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008, Ken O. Burtch wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> See my Lone Coder blog, "If Free is Illegal, Who is the Pirate?"
>>>> (http://www.pegasoft.ca/coder/coder_august_2007.html) for a detailed look 
>>>> at why getting something for nothing isn't stealing.
>>>> 
>>>> Ken B.
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