Im sorry for frequently going off on tangents to main discussion; it's just that usually I have nothing to add to it that hasn't been already said by someone else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald
While I agree that copyright laws are too restrictive, mostly because the time period before expiration is way too long (which is moot since they can be renewed) and because of archaic restrictions on making backup copies and doing media changes, eliminating copyright laws would pretty much guarantee very few writers would continue to write. It takes a lot of time to write a large novel (even a small one) and, if they couldn't get paid for their work, they would have less time to devote to writing because they would be spending their time on a "real job" to put food on the table, etc.
|
I believe that's assumming that if copyright laws and concept of author owning his work are gone, everyone would immediately stop paying the author, or feel any gratitude.
That's just as improbable as assumming that with copyright laws in place no one is violating them.
There's a very good, concise and insightful blog post by J.A Konrath here:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/05/piracy-again.html
He states there clearly that he believes piracy is stealing, just not stealing of anything tangible - yet I agree with all practical conclusions he draws in that post. If you read his other posts, you'll see how much money he makes on books that were rejected by traditional publishers.
An author who sells books through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, and at the same time offers lots of them for free on the website, and sees them on thousands of torrent can still get lots of money. Copyright law and philosophical stance on it is irrelevant - lost of readers don't even know what that is, never heard of it in their lives, and if they know, they don't care, that's not something that comes to their street. What matters is that when you're tearing through the last pages of the great novel, and feel all giddy when you read "The End", there should be a button to click, saying "if you loved it, here's a way to give the author's team some appreciation", and you should have ability to do this one click and the money goes. That's the moment of author's performance in reader's mind. That's the way of convenience, of gratitude, the way of "selling" compatible with human nature, that was impossible in the past, and that will work regardless of any state-issued laws and policing them. That's the way it will be.
I believe that when the aftereffects of digital revolution calm down, and everybody settles in slightly different roles and jobs, it will become obvious that sharing helps authors and editors gain money and recognition, and concepts of copyright law and "intellectual property" will gradually go away.