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Originally Posted by JSWolf
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I'm aware of (many of) Ellison's controversy's involving copyrights. I'm undecided on where I stand on all of them; I know he's fought hard against studios that grabbed his material & ran with it w/o permission, and won some of those cases--and it takes a lot of nerve *and* a good legal foundation to do that.
OTOH, Ellison's often a jerk, and a sexist pig. On the other, his books are DRM-free, and there's damn little speculative fiction released that way. On another, his writing, fiction & non, had a big impact on me growing up; I'd kinda like to find out if it still does (and I can barely stand to read paper anymore).
I like Ellison personally (have met in passing at sci-fi conventions); he's a blast to hang out with. (If you don't mind being in the same room with an ego the size of Cleveland.) I find his commentary (on various topics) insightful, funny and useful, if not always accurate.
I'm much in favor of suing large corporations that have a long habit of absconding with creator's works and counting on the fact that many of them can't afford to sue, or were coerced into contracts. I'm less in favor of the idea that "copyright infringement is theft;" I'm in the crowd that thinks copyrights should last maybe 28 years, 40 at the most, and then end--and in the meantime, a lot of noncommercial uses are fair use.