Just wanted to post the following from the RWA® for general interest:
RWA® to provide a clearing house of file-sharing sites and instructions for copyright holders to protect their works.
Romance Writers of America (RWA), a professional association representing 9,800 romance writers, is committing its resources to providing information on how to protect copyrighted works and help fight the growing problem of Internet piracy. As theft of intellectual property affects all creators, RWA hopes to raise awareness of this issue and assist authors with the knowledge to demand take down of unauthorized copies of their works by establishing a clearing house for authors of all genres.
RWA recently published a list of websites that contain unauthorized downloads or other copies of copyrighted romance novels. The list includes contact information for the website administrators and links to each website’s takedown procedures. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires online service providers to promptly block access to infringing material (or remove such material from their systems) when they receive notification claiming infringement from a copyright holder. The information provided by RWA includes instructions for sending notice to these websites as well as a sample takedown letter.
The database containing the list of these websites and other related information can be found under “RWA News” at the association’s website, www.rwanational.org. (The direct link to the data base and instructions is http://rwanational.org/cs/internet_piracy#.) Due to the nature of piracy and the fact that this service was originally intended for RWA members, the list is by no means complete; writers are encouraged to report similar, additional sites by sending information to reportpiracy@rwanational.org.
Change can only happen through the combined efforts of everyone affected. Agents, publishing professionals, and writers are urged to utilize and contribute to the database maintained by RWA. Permission to forward this release is granted and strongly encouraged. For more information or questions regarding RWA’s list of Internet piracy sites, contact Carol Ritter, Professional Relations Manager, at (832) 717-5200 ext. 127.
Thought-provoking
My kids aren't old enough to be online illegally sharing music or books or anything else -- they only know about the educational sites we've sent them to. But there are young adults/teens in my life -- kids who go church, get good grades, all the things you think of when you think of "good" kids -- who are sharing music (if they're bookworms, maybe books, too). One kid told me that music should be free. I told him what I thought of that and asked him very pointed questions about why he thought the way he did. Questions about other work -- like, well, he should come do my yard work or house work for free. He didn't agree. Why? I asked. Artists and authors and musicians probably worked a LOT harder at what they created than he ever would doing my chores . . . why should he get paid for something that pretty much anyone off the street can do but these people who do what very few others can do (write books, music) shouldn't be paid? If they have the talent and work ethic, why can't they choose to support themselves and their famlies by creating music/books/art?
Of course, he couldn't really give me a reason. His mom said, "It's b/c you know that it's wrong." Which also made me wonder how I'll handle it when my kids get old enough that it will be a question for our family (b/c his mom has obviously not stopped him but I've no idea how or how hard she's tried to). For my kids it might be different as I have several friends who write for you plus my kids' best friend's uncle is a musician becoming more and more popular in the region. So hopefully it will be a non-issue for us but if not, I have specific people to point to and say, "Oh, you want to steal from that friend? No? Well, you're not going to steal from strangers, either." Or maybe by the time my kids are old enough to be more independent on the computer, there will be adequate protection. If not, I just hope that they'll be the example to their friends, the ones who stand up and say, "Hey. It's stealing and it's wrong."
Although I will never (unless someone's muse takes over my body) create anything that will be copyrighted or proprietary, it's in my interest as someone who loves books and music to have my favorite writers/composers/musicians protected so that they can earn a living doing what brings me pleasure. If they can't b/c so many people have taken the work without compensating the creator, then I lose out on who knows what beautiful book or work of music or piece of art.
I'm glad that RWA is helping its members but I wish that it wasn't necessary.
FWIW,
Penn
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In fairness, one challenge the copyright owners and managers--like publishers--are in the process of addressing is how to make 'doing the right thing' easy and reasonable. There is a lot of work to be done to build an infrastructure so people know who holds the rights, how much they are, who to pay and how to pay.
There are also still giant question marks with the new generation in terms of how to develop a business model that works when kids are being taught by their peers--and often condoned by their parents and teachers if it means free text books--that anything digital should be free.
But as we see with stock bubbles that burst, even if things seem off-kilter for a while, there always is a 'market correction,' and true values endure. Thanks for sharing them.
But on the other hand,
But on the other hand, Penn, if I work for 1 year very hard at something other than an artistic oeuvre, I get paid for that work at the price my employer and I agree is fair. I don't get payment for the rest of my life, or even after that one year, for the work that was done.
I agree that artists need to be remunerated for their work, but "successful" artists often reap in rewards far above the work that they have done. In the same way that I think CEOs should not make 100+ times the salary of the base worker, I think that at some point the royalties should stop. I mean, if I understand correctly, the Beatles and/or their heirs, for example, are still getting royalties from work done in the 1960s.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
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There are laws...
Fake Frenchie--Copyright laws are not indefinite, though the limits have varied, from lifetime + 50 or +75 or 100 years from creation before a work goes into public domain.
There are choices people make in terms of remuneration, responsibility and risk taking. Salary & benefits Vs entrepreneur. A few succeed--but it doesn't seem right to build the laws or policies around the exceptions.