Quote:
Originally Posted by BWinmill
One of my issues with copyright is that the excessive durations aren't really justified. One perspective: - Most works only have value for a limited time after their creation. So there is very little value to having copyrights exceeding 28 years.
- Works of lasting value are likely to increase their value to society in the public domain.
A second perspective is that the notion of doing something once and living off the proceeds for the rest of your life is deeply offensive to people who actually have to work for a living. Farmers have to continue growing food to earn a living. Factories have to continue producing goods in order to generate revenues. Heck, even other industries that are driven by other forms of intellectual property (like patents) have to continue innovating because they are only protected for 20 years.
Then how do they survive: they continue producing. If they want to stop producing, then they have to put money aside. In other words, they should do what everyone else does. They should not feel entitled to any more. |
That is EXACTLY how most of us writers survive--WE KEEP PRODUCING. Yes, you hear lots about certain writers who live off the wealth of one to 7 books/movies/deals. But the VAST majority of us can't make a living EVEN WITH SEVERAL BOOKS IN PRINT--and those of us who do--in order to keep our books in the minds of the readers--MUST, MUST keep producing. Even a year between releases is sometimes too long to remain relevant. Many of us work more than one job as well. I am just like that farmer. I toil away for months and sometimes about 2 years before I get to harvest. Trust me--I'm a gardener and your analogy is way closer than you can imagine. I've had books that do not sell--this after toiling over them for years. This after rewriting (replanting) editing (paying out for help to come in) and so on.
Don't kid yourself. Sure, some farmers might hit it rich by selling their land, finding diamonds, gold or oil on their land, but most of them struggle to get by.
So do I. And I need that copyright protection on my earlier books to allow me to keep writing the next one. Longer copyright is even more important NOW than it was then. My ebooks don't go out of print. I can sell a copy today, just like the first one I sold 5 years ago. I can keep it around, keep talking about it and keep trying to be remembered and relevant.
I'm not making a living off every single book. It's all about producing and continuing to produce and trying to figure out what to grow next. Do I continue the series? Do I try with a different one? Each decision can be years in the making. So is the writing process.
I'm not sitting back after writing since I was 20 and living off of a single miracle book. Most writers aren't. Some of the books I started writing in my 20s barely got published when I was in my 40s. That's longer than most farmers and ranchers have to wait to get a harvest. I had a lot of practicing, learning, attempted selling, rewriting, slow sales, etc going on during that 20 years of planting. So really. Don't feel like I'm not working as hard as that farmer. I've done both. I grew up on a farm/ranch and I still have a small garden plot. They are not all that different.