Please don't do it.
Jul. 13th, 2007 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merrilyDue to the magic of del.icio.us, I discovered that various fangirls, with misguided good intentions, have posted online the entirety of several books by a Canadian kids book author... without the author's permission. And are planning to post more. And then to restart up a slash archive about the series.
I was shocked and then pissed and then I emailed the links to the author and to my sales rep at the publishing house.
I'm leaving names off of this post, because as interesting as it would be to point out who dunnit, I have no intention of helping other people find the illegally published online copies.
Since this is the age of sendspace and Googleprint, what I want to say to fandom is this:
1) Just because it's difficult for you to find someone's books doesn't mean the books are out of print. (In the case I am talking about, most are in print.)
2) Even if the books are out of print or out of stock indefinitely with the publisher, that doesn't mean copyright has expired.
3) You need the permission of an author or the copyright holder UNLESS copyright has expired. In most places, copyright expires 50 years after the author's death. This may not be true for where you live. CHECK.
4) Most writers don't make tons of dough. Add "Canadian" and "children's book" to that description and you have someone who's had to fight for grant money and is well-acquainted with coupon-clipping. If you post their work online, without their permission, you are stealing profits from them. If you actually love them, don't force them onto a KD diet by screwing them over and making them lose money. KD DOES NOT EQUAL LOVE.
5) Most publishers, most editors and all booksellers don't make tons of dough, either. Ditto on the screwed-over bit.
6) I am all for writing slash about obscure Canadian books. I am not all for posting links to slash sites along with links to illegally published text. If the law starts looking at your illegally published text, it might also start looking at your fanfiction. You probably don't want to be the test case for fanfic legality.
7) If you post _anyway_, and I find your posts, I'm gonna tell. I have no fangirl loyalty to fen who rip off authors I love. I will feel less burning desire to tip off Kinsella et al. about PDFs of the Shopaholic books than I did about this situation, but if I meet her publisher's rep or someone who runs the distribution company, I'll probably mention it.
8) Yes, this is different than sharing music... although it might not be in the eyes of the law. I'm happy to share music because if I like the work I buy albums later, or individual songs from iTunes. Also, for most musicians, album sales aren't their only source of revenue. When you post an author's writing online without their permission, you are stealing the entirety of their income-producing efforts. They can't make money as writers without publishing their writing. Musicians, on the other hand, can make money as musicians without recording their music.
I'm supposed to be out having a life right now, so I think that's all.
I was shocked and then pissed and then I emailed the links to the author and to my sales rep at the publishing house.
I'm leaving names off of this post, because as interesting as it would be to point out who dunnit, I have no intention of helping other people find the illegally published online copies.
Since this is the age of sendspace and Googleprint, what I want to say to fandom is this:
1) Just because it's difficult for you to find someone's books doesn't mean the books are out of print. (In the case I am talking about, most are in print.)
2) Even if the books are out of print or out of stock indefinitely with the publisher, that doesn't mean copyright has expired.
3) You need the permission of an author or the copyright holder UNLESS copyright has expired. In most places, copyright expires 50 years after the author's death. This may not be true for where you live. CHECK.
4) Most writers don't make tons of dough. Add "Canadian" and "children's book" to that description and you have someone who's had to fight for grant money and is well-acquainted with coupon-clipping. If you post their work online, without their permission, you are stealing profits from them. If you actually love them, don't force them onto a KD diet by screwing them over and making them lose money. KD DOES NOT EQUAL LOVE.
5) Most publishers, most editors and all booksellers don't make tons of dough, either. Ditto on the screwed-over bit.
6) I am all for writing slash about obscure Canadian books. I am not all for posting links to slash sites along with links to illegally published text. If the law starts looking at your illegally published text, it might also start looking at your fanfiction. You probably don't want to be the test case for fanfic legality.
7) If you post _anyway_, and I find your posts, I'm gonna tell. I have no fangirl loyalty to fen who rip off authors I love. I will feel less burning desire to tip off Kinsella et al. about PDFs of the Shopaholic books than I did about this situation, but if I meet her publisher's rep or someone who runs the distribution company, I'll probably mention it.
8) Yes, this is different than sharing music... although it might not be in the eyes of the law. I'm happy to share music because if I like the work I buy albums later, or individual songs from iTunes. Also, for most musicians, album sales aren't their only source of revenue. When you post an author's writing online without their permission, you are stealing the entirety of their income-producing efforts. They can't make money as writers without publishing their writing. Musicians, on the other hand, can make money as musicians without recording their music.
I'm supposed to be out having a life right now, so I think that's all.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-14 02:29 pm (UTC)Mostly, I was shocked at the comments on the lj post that pointed to the books: they were uniformly approving. No one spoke up to say it was a bad idea - not to mention illegal. I find it amazing that fan writers could grow so cavalier about the source material they're using.