While browsing the web I came across an interesting article which argues for the abolition of copyright law, http://newasiarepublic.com/?p=29418. The author’s contention is, in a nutshell that content creators and publishers need to become more innovative in how they generate revenue. If authors, for example can not survive in this world of file sharing then they, basically deserve to go out of business leaving the field open to the more fleet of foot.
There exist a number of excellent reasons for opposing this perspective and one of the comments, in response to the piece,from an expert in intellectual property law, does a good job of challenging the contentions promulgated in the article. My own thoughts are as follows. Last Monday I contracted with a plumber to repair a dripping tap in my kitchen. In return for his labour I paid him £40. Imagine the situation, if you will had I refused to pay this honest tradesman. He would, quite naturally have become irate. At worst I would have been taken to the Small Claims Court for not honouring a contract/committing theft and, at best the plumber would have blacklisted me informing other local trades people not to touch that Mr Morris with a barge pole.
We are all, I think in agreement that failing to pay a tradesman constitutes theft, so why should the failure to pay for content which I or any other person has produced be construed as anything other than stealing? Maybe I am obtuse but I fail to see the difference.
I would as always be interested to hear your views.
Kevin
K Morris - Poet 
This is a real hot potato this one! And great blog post. I agree with you wholeheartedly, that if copyright laws were to be abolished, then we, as hard working authors, and any other trade affected, would undoubtedly suffer. It is theft, plain and simple. We are trying our hardest to provide entertainment and if people are accessing this without paying for it, then of course, it is the same as your comment about the plumber. The problem with it though, is that it is nigh on impossible to prevent. The online community and technology is so far advanced that the second that we hit ‘publish’, there is someone there ready to take the file and share it without permission. And although there are safeguards in place, there is always a loophole. I kind of liken it to my working days during which I was a surveyor. I would visit properties and advise them on security measures but part of my job was always to be aware that we were only minimising the risk. The intruders were always going to be one step ahead of the security industry and we just had to accept that. I am not saying that it is right, more that I think we have to accept it as part of the perils of our trade – and maybe try to flip it to the positive. At least it means that your book and your name is getting out there. Just another way of looking at it perhaps?
Many thanks for your comment Jade. Your analogy about your time as a surveyor is an interesting one. I agree, we can only ever hope to minimise the risk of copyright theft, however actually abolishing copyright (which I know you oppose as do I) would only serve to make matters worse than they are at present. Again I agree (although I in no way defend it) that when people steal copyright material they are, at least becoming acquainted with an author’s work which can, potentially bring their works to the attention of a wider audiance. To my knowledge none of my books have been pirated. Are you aware of illicit copies of your book doing the rounds? On a lighter note I have visions of Delboy from Only Fools and Horses sidling up to people, in the Nags Head and asking whether anyone wants to buy a consignment of ebooks although, knowing Del he wouldn’t understand what ebooks are!
Ha ha ha, oh yes, Del is what we need in this industry! Great thought.
Yes, my book has done the piracy rounds, fairly quickly after it was released actually. But I didn’t worry too much about it. At the end of the day, there is nothing that I can do about it in reality, and I am hoping that at least it gets my name and my books out there. 🙂
I hope that it does get your name and your books out there. The only consolation if it is, indeed a consolation regarding piracy is that many of the sites offering pirated e-books are, I understand infected with computer viruses, consequently anyone attempting to download a pirated e-book may get a little more than they had bargained for! What an uncharitable thought on my part!
Not at all – made me giggle! Yep, bit like stealing notes with that indelible ink on them. Wonder if something like that could be invented! Ha ha.
By the way, please let me know what you thought of my book when you finish it – I would love to hear your feedback, good or bad. Thank you. 🙂
I will certainly let you know and please do likewise when you have had the opportunity to read Samantha. I am off now to infect a few more pirate websites with a particularly virulent computer virus which results in the entire hard drive being wiped and the machine rendered useless (would that I possessed the technical know-how to accomplish that)!
Ha ha ha! Hope you had fun on your journey..!
And yes, of course I shall let you know once I have read your book too. 🙂
I had my book pirated when I listed it free for two weeks, and it was a chore to get all of the sites to take it down. I have heard some people refer to it as “flattery”. I don’t see it as such. I see it as a way for predators to make money. The sites were charging for a book they received free, or were charging membership fees for their “free” books service. There were a few Torrent sites that I had to threaten legal action in order to get them to remove them from their downloads listing. To me, it was insulting to see the book listed on free sites, when I am not charging much for my only book published as it is. I have a cousin who is a millionaire and when I told his wife about my book (making mention of how affordable it was during a 99 cent sale) she made a comment that she had a free site that she purchased all of her books through. I could not help but sarcastically reply, “Thank you for your patronage.” There are patent laws for a reason and there should remain copyright laws.
I am sorry to hear that you had your book pirated when you offered it free. I hope that this does not happen to you again. So far as I am aware none of my books have been pirated but there is a first time for everything. Did you enable digital rights management (DRM) which is supposed to prevent copying? I am sure that this is not wholly effective but it does, I believe help to protect books from being copied, Kevin
I am not certain about DRM on smashwords and other platforms. I believe through Amazon it was enabled. I have not be revisited by the occurrence, but I also have not offered the book for free again. I don’t believe that a pirate is going to pay even $1.00 for something that is not a sure thing to sell copies. I may be wrong about that.
I hope nothing like this happens to you again. Thanks for your comment, Kevin
Very interesting. I’ll have to give this a read when I’m feeling up to it!
Thank you for your comment. I will be interested to hear your views when you have had an opportunity to read it. Best, Kevin
I don’t believe that copyright laws should be abolished. However, I do think they need to be modified. I, for instance, can’t buy books in e-book format because of copyright laws. Living in Lebanon, if I want a book to be delivered at my doorstep or buy a book from a nearby book store, I would have to pay 2.5 times its original price – due to shipping costs and taxes. E-books solve my problem, though I’m not allowed to buy them, due to copyright laws. If those laws were reformed, they would give bibliomaniacs – such as myself – the chance to read the books we want, anytime we want, at the normal rate.
I am very sorry to hear that you can not buy e-books in Lebanon due to copyright law. This seems very unfair and I hope that you are soon able to purchase e-books in the same way that most other people can. What is the reason for prohibiting the buying of e-books in Lebanon? Best wishes, Kevin
As far as I was told by Barnes and Nobel, it’s because of copyright “issues”. However, they didn’t specify the issue.