[Ajax]

Originally Posted by sourcejedi

Y'all seem to be absolving the large company here.

I like Baen, but they made a mistake too. They thought they had the power to do this, and that Bujold had given informed consent. Or that if she was missing something, she'd continue to do so in future. They were wrong, and there's now (a small amount of) adverse publicity floating around on the Web.

Then their response to the mistake (whoever(s) it is) is publicly interpreted as blaming their author. Maybe it's a refreshing contrast to modern PR, and there was no point (or some legal risk?) in saying more. But there's a valid discussion about free material, and they need to have it with their authors. A short "PS. Lessons will be learnt" might have been useful.

They could definitely have done without the aggro. I'm glad they're enlightened enough to let Bujold sell through Amazon while they're can't, but that's got to be causing some tension.

I'm pretty sure Baen know's exactly what rights they do and do not have. In fact Baen is still distributing the CD ISO to anyone who has purchased Cryoburn or the Monthly Bundle that included it.

Still listed right on the main page of that CD image is, bolded the important part:

You are about to start playing with a new Baen CD-ROM. Welcome! It includes not only the latest book in the series, Cryoburn, but the ENTIRE Vorkosigan Saga in several formats—and The Vorkosigan Companion—all of it beautifully unencrypted and unencumbered. But wait, there’s more! Also on this disk are interviews with author Lois McMaster Bujold, and various other interesting tidbits including a sample of the French language Miles Vorkosiagn graphic novel! More than fourteen novels for free—and with no stupid codes to work around. Think of that.

What’s the catch? This disk and its contents may be copied and shared, but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved. That’s it.

So if you want a copy of all of these books I am fully authorized by Baen to give them to you as long I don't try to sell them.