Re: The Right to Read
Deborah
searles@summerlands.com
Mon May 18 00:20:42 1998
Hey what can I say... worm can opener extraordinare here <GGG>  Considering that this issue is as complex as any piece of celtic knotwork you're likely to find, I guess it's right that a bunch of Celts are kicking the ideas around <G>.*p*I much prefer the idea of self policing, but (again playing devil's advocate here) what 'peer pressure' (non criminal penalties) could be imposed on people who do violate copyright and secondly, who gets to say where that line in the sand gets drawn?  What you or I might consider 'fair use' somebody else might consider blatant violation... or vice versa.  It might be us kicking and screaming and somebody who just walked off with the work of the last year of our lives is saying, 'so what... what are YOU going to do about it".*p*What do you think a good way of handling the situation might be?  It's not like we can take em out back behind the woodshed and shoot em or anything (hell... probably cant even find most of em).  If someone is going to violate common copyright practices, what are our options (short of government intervention or litigation)?*br*____________*br*I know it's more than just a word change here or there, but you can still clearly recognize phrases and sentences that you have written, even after somebody has 'edited' it to make it kosher (at least I can if it's something that I've really put my heart into when I wrote it.)  How much of a rewrite does it have to be to be able to cut the original author out of the process?  *p*And I agree... it is very hard to do mass quantities of paraphrasing, rephrasing, and rewriting and still be good at it.  You could spend your whole time just trying to do that well and never get to put up the information that needs to get out there.  I think that is one of the main reasons people do it... the amount of time savings gained by just cut and paste.  Time has become the new major commodity.  What is my time worth?  Do I spend an hour trying to rewrite/condense etc someone's else's work (which was stated better than I could have in the first place and is EXACTLY what I want to say) or do I spend 30 seconds cutting and pasting it into a post and then spend the rest of my time making MY point about what it says?  *br*_______________*br*You've made some really good points about infringing on people in ways I never even considered.  The national syndication never even crossed my mind. Good catch there!  *p*Another way of thinking about potentially turning off people in a local area from buying a paper, mag, etc, might also be, "hey... if it has THIS in it, I bet there's a bunch of other related stuff (or equally quality items) in that publication... maybe I need to go get that puppy."  Might actually goose them to pick up a copy next time they're in the store.*br*___________________*br*Glad you liked the post about Sex and Marriage.  I'm going to make several more in that same vein (also quoting Powers).  They will be on Sexual Attitudes, Bride Price, Divorce, and possibly Fosterage.  By the time I've finished the 4-5 posts that I want to make, there will be a pretty good amount of this guy's book up there (the 'lists' anyway).  What I'm hoping will happen is that people will get interested not only in the subject under discussion, but in purchasing the book and sharing the ideas contained therein with other people. (I'm starting to feel like the Oprah Bookclub here... somebody douse me with water willya?!?)  *p*I know that this is definitely one of the books that I want us to carry in the Summerlands bookstore when we get it open, so....does what I'm doing/going to do constitute an infringement.... or does it promote the sale of the book and the disemination of the ideas presented in said book? I know that what I've done so far is kosher... but how about by the time we finish this series of thread?  And how about if those threads are archived in the Women's Library?  And what if nobody buys the book - either because of or in spite of - what I posted?  Enquiring minds want to know <G>*p*Ultimately, I agree with your statement about anyone's "right" to publish stopping where my intellectual property rights begin... but we're talking felony crime legislation here with some pretty stif monetary penalties and jail time to boot (if I read the article correctly).  I also want to know where my stuff is and have the final sayso on where and in what context it's viewed. (I mean, I would be really miffed to see some of my stuff up on a religious reich or neo nazi site... especially if they had taken snippets out of it and posted it 'out of context' (but that is A WHOLE NUTHER CAN O' WORMS! <G>)*p*So we're back to the question at the top of the post...what can we do to apply peer pressure rather than have to have the government and the publishing houses make it a criminal offense to share info?  And what form should/could that pressure take?*p*This is getting interesting~*br*Deb
Re: The Right to Read
Debbie G.
34
Sun May 17 21:34:45 1998