Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > News

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 02-04-2009, 02:03 PM   #91
Alisa
Gadget Geek
Alisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongue
 
Alisa's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,324
Karma: 22221
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)
Now that we've gone completely off topic, I'd like to add that I can get a package to it's destination more quickly and cheaply with the USPS than I can with the standard UPS or FedEx ground shipping.
Alisa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2009, 05:35 PM   #92
Daithi
Publishers are evil!
Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Daithi's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,418
Karma: 36205264
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Rhode Island
Device: Various Kindles
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alisa View Post
Now that we've gone completely off topic, I'd like to add that I can get a package to it's destination more quickly and cheaply with the USPS than I can with the standard UPS or FedEx ground shipping.
Except that the cost of mailing the package through the USPS is subsidized by taxes where UPS and FedEx are not.
Daithi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2009, 05:50 PM   #93
Daithi
Publishers are evil!
Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Daithi's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,418
Karma: 36205264
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Rhode Island
Device: Various Kindles
Why aren't the inventors of all intellectual property given the same benefits? Consider the mathematics and sciences that are invented, published, and taught in colleges. You can copyright the printed material but the 'idea' itself can't be protected. We don't provide Einstein's heirs with royalty checks everytime a school or book mentions relativity. Newton, Leibnitz, Darwin, Godel, Cantor, et. al. don't get squat. In math and science the 'ideas' are made freely available to the public, and only physical property based on these ideas are provided with property protections.
Daithi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2009, 06:20 PM   #94
Alisa
Gadget Geek
Alisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongueAlisa can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his or her tongue
 
Alisa's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,324
Karma: 22221
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daithi View Post
Except that the cost of mailing the package through the USPS is subsidized by taxes where UPS and FedEx are not.
I thought we stopped subsidizing them back in the 80s.
Alisa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2009, 06:29 PM   #95
Daithi
Publishers are evil!
Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Daithi ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Daithi's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,418
Karma: 36205264
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Rhode Island
Device: Various Kindles
I stand corrected Alisa. I'd forgotten about that.
Daithi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2009, 06:57 PM   #96
mjh215
Guru
mjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentametermjh215 can solve quadratic equations while standing on his or her head reciting poetry in iambic pentameter
 
Posts: 988
Karma: 12653
Join Date: Apr 2008
Device: None of your business
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daithi View Post
Why aren't the inventors of all intellectual property given the same benefits? Consider the mathematics and sciences that are invented, published, and taught in colleges. You can copyright the printed material but the 'idea' itself can't be protected. We don't provide Einstein's heirs with royalty checks everytime a school or book mentions relativity. Newton, Leibnitz, Darwin, Godel, Cantor, et. al. don't get squat. In math and science the 'ideas' are made freely available to the public, and only physical property based on these ideas are provided with property protections.
This then becomes the responsibility of patent law. Years ago patents were applied primarily to a mechanical object, now they are applied for any type of concept including mathematical formulas. (Anyone with a better working knowledge of patent law is welcome to expand or correct this)

-MJ
mjh215 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 03:34 AM   #97
QueridaNegra
Member
QueridaNegra began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 23
Karma: 10
Join Date: Oct 2006
Device: Sony Reader, Sony Reader!!
Since the original point of copyright was to encourage people to produce works for the good of society, arguably, it should be illegal for it to extend the entire life of the author. Think about it - what incentive does, for example, J.K. Rowling have to write another book EVER (not saying she's my favorite, but a good example). She's obscenely wealthy now, and rightly so, because of the success of her books. Did it take 50 years? No. Is she still alive? YES.

Yet, she's not encouraged to produce more work, because she knows that the royalties from her books will carry her on for the rest of her life, and likely most of her children's lives. This is not the point of copyright. We as a society have encouraged her to do exactly what we didn't want her to do.

For that matter, one could extend the argument by saying that if you're not currently producing work, you shouldn't be paid beyond say the first 3 years of your book's release (unless you're selling it directly to people a la Steve Jordan). The desire for the residual income waiting for you from the last book could be enough to keep you going.

Do we really think that people like Edgar Allan Poe would have been as prolific as they were with copyright the way it is today?
QueridaNegra is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 03:52 AM   #98
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by QueridaNegra View Post
Do we really think that people like Edgar Allan Poe would have been as prolific as they were with copyright the way it is today?
It's odd that you should mention Poe. As one of the first American authors to attempt to make a living from writing, he really struggled against the pathetic copyright protection that he received at the time, especially the lack of any international copyright protection. He would have been much better served by the current copyright laws than by those that were in force at the time. One might argue that, had he received a decent income from his work, he wouldn't have died at the very early age of 40, and we'd have a lot more from him that we actually do.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 04:05 AM   #99
QueridaNegra
Member
QueridaNegra began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 23
Karma: 10
Join Date: Oct 2006
Device: Sony Reader, Sony Reader!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
It's odd that you should mention Poe. As one of the first American authors to attempt to make a living from writing, he really struggled against the pathetic copyright protection that he received at the time, especially the lack of any international copyright protection. He would have been much better served by the current copyright laws than by those that were in force at the time. One might argue that, had he received a decent income from his work, he wouldn't have died at the very early age of 40, and we'd have a lot more from him that we actually do.
I will concede his hampering through the lack of international copyright, however, at the time, he was SELLING his work in periodicals (e.g. The Raven) There is a difference - the contracts are different. Therefore standard copyright would not have applied anyway. Also, the fact that he was an alcoholic wouldn't have changed.
QueridaNegra is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 04:50 AM   #100
Jellby
frumious Bandersnatch
Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Jellby ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Jellby's Avatar
 
Posts: 7,514
Karma: 18512745
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spaniard in Sweden
Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daithi View Post
Why aren't the inventors of all intellectual property given the same benefits? Consider the mathematics and sciences that are invented, published, and taught in colleges.
Scientists and researchers often get paid by universities or research institutes. It would be great if writers could be paid by similar institutions, but where would the money ultimately come from? Taxes?
Jellby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 05:13 AM   #101
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellby View Post
Scientists and researchers often get paid by universities or research institutes. It would be great if writers could be paid by similar institutions, but where would the money ultimately come from? Taxes?
Writers, artists, etc, were funded by the state in countries like East Germany, the Soviet Union, etc. In a western nation, though, it would perhaps be difficult to decide who qualified for state funding, how much they should be paid, and so on. Perhaps not, though - it's what (in the UK, at least) we do for top sportsmen and women via government funding, so perhaps the same could be done for creative people too.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 08:46 AM   #102
Liviu_5
Books and more books
Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.Liviu_5 juggles neatly with hedgehogs.
 
Liviu_5's Avatar
 
Posts: 917
Karma: 69499
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: White Plains, NY, USA
Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
Writers, artists, etc, were funded by the state in countries like East Germany, the Soviet Union, etc. In a western nation, though, it would perhaps be difficult to decide who qualified for state funding, how much they should be paid, and so on. Perhaps not, though - it's what (in the UK, at least) we do for top sportsmen and women via government funding, so perhaps the same could be done for creative people too.
And what is the great literature that the late unlamented USSR produced?

Pasternak - well he was refused permission to go to get his Nobel and escaped the camps because Stalin liked him and thought him harmless as per their phone conversations musings about the meaning of life

Bulgakov? - not published in his lifetime, escaped camp again due to Stalin's patronage


Solzhenitsyn - well we all know the story how he got published because Khrushchev liked his work and ordered it allowed and then lived to regret it...


All the writers that died shot in the back of the head (Babel, Mandelstam), poisoned (Gorky), in camps (too numerous to count)?
Liviu_5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 08:58 AM   #103
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liviu_5 View Post
And what is the great literature that the late unlamented USSR produced?
I'm afraid I don't know very much about Russian literature, but I rather suspect that it doesn't have too much connection with how authors get paid.

You're absolutely right about the Soviet Union's atrocities towards many "creative" people, of course, but let's not forget what Joe McCarthy was doing in the USA at the same time. The "Cold War" was not one of the proudest moments in the history of either country.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 09:04 AM   #104
Greg Anos
Grand Sorcerer
Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 11,239
Karma: 34817224
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Pocketbook
Here's an related quote from today's (well in the inside of the paper) Wall Street Journal from the music world....

"Warner Music Post Unexpected Profit"

"Warner Music recorded a 23 million dollar profit compared to a 16 million dollar loss the year earlier....Revenues decreased 11%....Recorded music revenue fell 12%, while digital revenue - which now makes up 20% of total revenue - rose 18%....In November, Warner's Atlantic Records became the first major label to have US digital sales outstrip audio CD sales."

WSJ Southwest Edition, page B7


Apparently some of the music industry is starting to do what's necessary to survive. If only the book business could learn to think.....
Greg Anos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2009, 01:37 PM   #105
poppacas
Junior Member
poppacas began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 9
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Southeast-USA
Device: none
Yes- change is needed

Just wondered how many authors replied to this thread?
The following from Z in Paris
Quote:
"copyright laws do definitely need to be reformed and large scale copyright infringement is just a symptom of that, not the cause. however it may participate in hastening that reform, which would be a good thing."

rather covers the conundrum.
Disregard of ethics is not the answer, change of system seems more logical.
poppacas is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Splice film markbot Lounge 4 06-06-2010 07:36 PM
Free: Nothing Better Than Death - Insights from 62 near-death experiences AbFabGab Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) 1 03-31-2009 04:55 PM
In Copyright? - Copyright Renewal Database launched Alexander Turcic News 26 07-09-2008 09:36 AM
Government US Copyright Office: Report on Orphan Works. US Copyright Office. PDF Nate the great Other Books 0 01-03-2008 07:16 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:02 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.