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zespectre · 05-14-2011, 11:28 AM

As Heinlein so aptly put it. "TANSTAAFL" (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)

Authors already have the option of declining to work with publishers. They are perfectly free to write something new and put it out on the internet for free consumption.

In fact some do precisely this.

Most don't bother, or only do it with a "teaser" book or excerpt and then charge for the rest in a traditional fashion. Why? Because they want some compensation for their work or it's not worth the time/effort.

That's not to say that I don't believe copyright laws are out of control. I personally think that copyright should be "life of original author" and not one second longer, but I don't think "all books free" would result in anything but a decrease in what is published out there.

05-14-2011, 11:28 AM	#55
zespectre BookMonkey Posts: 90 Karma: 18008 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Shenandoah Valley Device: NOOK, iPod Touch, Asus Netbook	As Heinlein so aptly put it. "TANSTAAFL" (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) Authors already have the option of declining to work with publishers. They are perfectly free to write something new and put it out on the internet for free consumption. In fact some do precisely this. Most don't bother, or only do it with a "teaser" book or excerpt and then charge for the rest in a traditional fashion. Why? Because they want some compensation for their work or it's not worth the time/effort. That's not to say that I don't believe copyright laws are out of control. I personally think that copyright should be "life of original author" and not one second longer, but I don't think "all books free" would result in anything but a decrease in what is published out there. Last edited by zespectre; 05-14-2011 at 11:39 AM.