Okay, this is something I was thinking. First the link
http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6386713.stm
Now, whats the difference between downloading the text of a novel on the internet and paying 10 cents for the same material from a jumble sale/yard sale/charity shop.
If I bought a tatty copy of some Tolkein hobbit-epic from a yard sale, the estate doesn't get anything, the publishers don't get anything, the lawyers certainly don't get anything. Whats the catch? Nobodys making money off a download yet they are from the sale of a second or third hand paperback. Would the yard sale person simply be recouping some of what they paid in the first place or is it re-sale? Is it legal? I'm not sure I get it shock ?
Surely, the author, et al, got paid for the book the first time it was sold, they made their money from that sale. Downloads for free don't cut it, especially since one original copy could be downloaded by many.
You can sell a book second hand, but it is illegal for you to xerox it and sell the copies.
But if you don't sell the copies, merely provide them? Just got me thinking, I certainly don't condone this sort of thing, as an artist I certainly wouldn't want somebody making money off my product, but to simply give it away - sure, no problem there.
It looks like the Tolkien estate scored big in recent years too.. Never seen the point in reading stuff online though, always gives me a headache after a while and even laptops fail if you try to read in the bath tub. grin
Surely, the author, et al, got paid for the book the first time it was sold, they made their money from that sale. Downloads for free don't cut it, especially since one original copy could be downloaded by many.
You can sell a book second hand, but it is illegal for you to xerox it and sell the copies.
But not illegal to xerox in the first place. Fair Use and all that.
Let's face it, current copyright laws are seriously flawed and deal with a 19-century world.
Funny how relatively unknown authors/bands are quite happy to have their work copied and distributed but the big rich ones get all uppity.
But if you don't sell the copies, merely provide them? Just got me thinking, I certainly don't condone this sort of thing, as an artist I certainly wouldn't want somebody making money off my product, but to simply give it away - sure, no problem there.
It looks like the Tolkien estate scored big in recent years too.. Never seen the point in reading stuff online though, always gives me a headache after a while and even laptops fail if you try to read in the bath tub. :grin:
The problem is that there is a cost, the website isn't free. They may make the money from advertising, the more hits, the more money. While they don't sell the copy directly, they make money from having it available.
Going back to the xerox analogy, you can make copies for your own use, but it is illegal to give them away.
Scramble
"Funny how relatively unknown authors/bands are quite happy to have their work copied and distributed but the big rich ones get all uppity."
Not really, from an established group, the copy has value, for a new group, it is about building a fan base, so that their copies of their later work will gain value.
this whole copy right stuff needs to get sorted.
The same question can be put for buying CD's from a yard sale, to you transfering that materil to another format etc etc.
The law needs to be consistant. Think what has really happened companies have paid no attention to copy right infringements. Now that they are losing money they want to stamp it down, whilst not really thinking the problem through.
The law needs to be consistant.
Now whatever gave you that idea.
For a start, if the law was consistent what would I do :oops:
The difficulty right now is that technology is developing faster than the law and it will always be difficult to keep up. Also, no matter the law, it is worthless without a meaningful way to enforce it. Right now, as fast as new technology is brought in to enforce the law, some spotty 13 year old develops a way around it.