Price and availablity (was Digest Number 3638)

I mostly agree with Marion, but some of her views hit me between the eyes!  A little of her post that has raised non-pirate issues is below. 

Here I find both the questions of copyright term and the price of 'a book' presented in a very one-dimensional way.

Term is one that I have no special view on. But I have two questions. the first is why any single person, or small group, dismisses over a hundred years of discussion by many, many people inside and outside the business and within over a hundred countries and at WIPO. In other words I find views without justification or explanation failing to understand the complexity of the question.

Secondly what are at least the parameters for an argument about term? Should term be blanket, as it is now, or should it vary from niche to niche?

Marion suggests a ten year copyright term. But this immediately introduces the need for sets of definitions that are vital to writers and publishers. When does the ten years start? What happens if a new edition is being discussed after nine years? Is that edition still in copyright until sold out; and does 'in print' entitle reprints if demand is high? How does an author properly benefit for a long-popular book like Lord of the Rings, rather than benefitting all the chancers who give nothing to publishing but will happily line their own pockets?

Underlying this is the question that Americans usually dodge. Why is the work of the pen any less property than anything else that a person makes. Why should the writer be the one member of society that has no control over the fruits of his labour? That it benefits society does not actually make it the property of society. 

Price also seems to me to be settled without real thought. Marion argues at one point about the prices needed for different types of publication, and then parcels 'fiction' into one, unconsidered trifle - which most people do, let me add.

But there is a massive difference between a Harlequin or Mills and Boon romance, and a Bonfire of the Vanities. Marion knows full well that only the writer and the publisher can make the calculations to determine the price and the formats of publishing and their timings. Most on this list find the impositions of Kindle and others very restrictive and sometimes quite difficult in making their business work.

Indeed, I am amazed at the extent to which people seem to believe it is their right to decide on the business models of writers and publishers, and on their distribution methods. 

Joseph

Joseph Harris - Debt Control Man
http://www.controlyourdebtcrisis.co.uk
Author: Control Your Debt Crisis on Your Own Terms
http://twitter.com/debtcontrolman 
SAQ - SAve the cheQue


From: "Marion Gropen" > On Mar 11, 2010, at 5:56 AM, [email protected] wrote:
________________________________________________________________________
>> 1f. Re: What kinds of Books are pirated and made into EBooks?
>>    Posted by: "Erica Frank" [email protected] elfwreck
>>    Date: Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:47 pm ((PST))
...........
> In this case, we are limiting the length of that control. Personally,  
> if the Berne Convention weren't an issue, I believe that US copyright  
> should be reduced to something like 10 years after publication or  
> creation, with the right to extend two or three times. But we no  
> longer have the right to change our law unilaterally. We made a pact  
> with other countries, and now, we're more or less stuck.
<snip>
> 
> I tend to agree with you, for fiction and trade non-fiction,  but I  
> may be indulging in hopeless optimism. For what I call "need to know"  
> material -- I disagree strongly. High priced (because the costs of  
> developing the material, and preparing the presentation, are so steep)  
> information needs to be fenced in.
> 
> I'm reminding of the specious arguments that textbooks are grossly  
> over-priced because the printing cost is such a small fraction of  
> their list price. Anyone who has been here a while can drive a truck  
> through the holes in that one.
> 
> 
> 
> Marion Gropen
> Gropen Associates, Inc.
> By-The-Question Consulting,  Tools for Publishers, & Classes
> www.GropenAssoc.com
> Her blog: www.GropenAssoc.com/blog
> 



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