Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBlueSky
I don't really think that's true at all. It's ALWAYS about the artist. He always tries to portray it as if it was only the faceless 'industry' that is ripping the customer off, as if he (the artist) is somehow divorced from that same industry and is just some hapless bystander, in the same boat as the customer. Yet.
Who initially owns the copyright? The artist.
Whose name is on the cover? The artist.
Who sells/assigns his copyright to the publisher? The artist.
Who continues to get paid royalties for 70 years after death. The artist.
Who is most vocal in complaining about pirates 'stealing' from them. The artist.
Who has the most potential to gain from the status quo. The artist.
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I honestly don't agree with you, on any of these counts. What good is the copyright to the artist if they don't publish their work and receive payment for it? And how many options have they had to do that? I've gone the self-publishing route, and it's heartbreak for all but a tiny minority. The "flattening" of the market through the internet may change that in the long run, but it hasn't made more than a tiny dent so far.
In particular, the artists are
not the ones I hear complaining most loudly about copyright infringement. That dubious honor rests squarely with the publishers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBlueSky
The publisher on the other hand, says that all he is doing is simply acting in the best intersts of the artist (as his intermediary). After all, the artist willingly signed away his copyright to him on the expectation that he (the publisher) would shower riches upon his (ther artist) head from producing the work for him.
The publisher says that all the editing, proof-reading, marketing and price-fixing he does is simply done in the name of, and on behalf of, the artist. In fact, any small smidgen of profit the publisher makes (he says) goes into subsidising the other unsucssesful artists that are freeloading on his roster right now. He (the publisher) will say that he can barely afford to survive after all these expenses have been accounted for and the artist paid his due. Indeed, he is the one who has to send his wife and childern out to work to make ends meet!
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Why are you willing to accept the publisher claims over those of the artist? Regardless, the publisher is making the claim that the editing, etc. is on behalf of the customer; the marketing and price-fixing are certainly done for the benefit of the publisher, rather than the artist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBlueSky
When I buy a tin of beans, its Mr Heinz I am paying. Same as with the artist. I don't care how much Mr. Heinz paid the farmer for them, or how much he paid his worker to can them, or how much the retailers cut is for putting them on the shelf. If the price to too high at the counter -- I blame Mr. Heinz.
Same for a book. if the cover price is too high -- it's the artists fault. No argument.
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Your argument doesn't make sense. Heinz is in the position of the publisher, not the artist. In your analogy, the farmer would be the artist, and the cannery workers the copy editors, printers, etc.
I actually do care how much Mr. Heinz paid the farmer and the cannery workers, and I care whether the workers at the store where I buy the canned goods are making a living wage. I go out of my way to buy "fair trade" goods from locally-owned businesses where possible. The farmer and the cannery worker receive far to small a fraction of the final price of the can as it is-- and the vast majority of authors receive a pittance per book from publishers.
Your priorities may be very different from mine, and I accept that, but I don't accept that your premises or conclusions hold for everyone, or even for the majority. Our contemporary system of publishing has developed into a stranglehold on channels from creators to customers. I hope to see distributed publishing via the internet and other means change that. But we're not there yet.
And this "creators vs. publishers vs. customers" argument doesn't even take another huge factor into account: distributors. Take a look at this article by long-time science fiction author C. J. Cherryh for insight into this problem.
http://www.closed-circle.net/WhereItsAt/?page_id=11