Comments on: BookExpo heist http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/blog/?p=713 Ideas, people, and events in the world of Berkshire Publishing, a global point of reference Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:54:16 -0400 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Karen Christensen http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/blog/?p=713&cpage=1#comment-5793 Karen Christensen Fri, 08 Jun 2007 21:02:21 +0000 http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/blog/?p=713#comment-5793 Even those of us who aren't lawyers can get to better grips with this issue than you've managed so far. I think of this issue as not primarily one for publishers but for anyone who uses non-physical capabilities and talents (that is, intellectual and creative juice) to create things. I'm an author, not only someone who publishes the work of others, and I know that things I create should provide me with material rewards because that's only fair--just as a carpenter should be paid for her labor. What Richard did made complete sense. Even those of us who aren’t lawyers can get to better grips with this issue than you’ve managed so far. I think of this issue as not primarily one for publishers but for anyone who uses non-physical capabilities and talents (that is, intellectual and creative juice) to create things. I’m an author, not only someone who publishes the work of others, and I know that things I create should provide me with material rewards because that’s only fair–just as a carpenter should be paid for her labor. What Richard did made complete sense.

]]> By: Living in First Life Dos http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/blog/?p=713&cpage=1#comment-5644 Living in First Life Dos Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:22:20 +0000 http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/blog/?p=713#comment-5644 Not only was the prank not "savvy" but it was not a fair comparison. Possible copyright infringement versus definite theft? Intellectual versus physical property? I'm no lawyer but even I know the differences between intellectual property rights and physical property rights. I guess they don't teach that to publishing CEOs anymore though... Also, scanning of a book that you own is perfectly legal, fair use. It's also legal to quote several lines of a book in your own work (e.g. another book, a website, a blog). So when Google scans books and then only shows a couple lines, how is that analogous to stealing a laptop? Maybe I'm missing something... but probably not. I think it's more likely that publishers are resisting change because it means up-ending their tidy (and shrinking) business model. Publishers aren't in the publishing industry, they're in the distribution industry. The Internet, just like print, is just one more distribution channel to leverage. Someone should put me in charge of your company. See my post at http://livinginfirstlife.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/book-publishers-steal-laptop-web-20-hysteria-spills-over-into-old-media/ Not only was the prank not “savvy” but it was not a fair comparison. Possible copyright infringement versus definite theft? Intellectual versus physical property? I’m no lawyer but even I know the differences between intellectual property rights and physical property rights. I guess they don’t teach that to publishing CEOs anymore though…

Also, scanning of a book that you own is perfectly legal, fair use. It’s also legal to quote several lines of a book in your own work (e.g. another book, a website, a blog). So when Google scans books and then only shows a couple lines, how is that analogous to stealing a laptop? Maybe I’m missing something… but probably not.

I think it’s more likely that publishers are resisting change because it means up-ending their tidy (and shrinking) business model. Publishers aren’t in the publishing industry, they’re in the distribution industry. The Internet, just like print, is just one more distribution channel to leverage. Someone should put me in charge of your company.

See my post at http://livinginfirstlife.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/book-publishers-steal-laptop-web-20-hysteria-spills-over-into-old-media/

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