DRM (Digital Rights Management) and DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Debunked...

[calic0cat]

For all the fans out there - be they fans of a show or a book or whatever the case may be - I'd like to recommend that you go read Salvos Against Big Brother, an ongoing series of articles by author Eric Flint. Published in the Jim Baen's Universe online sci-fi magazine over the past year or so, they're a thought-provoking look at just how free distribution of music/books/etc. actually benefits authors/singers/etc., contrary to the hogwash touted by the RIA (among others, including certain authors, studios, and publishing companies). The whole concept of "fair use" comes up repeatedly, along with the idea that copyright has become far too restrictive. Flint doesn't just offer rhetoric, either - he offers hard facts to back up his statements (such as the fact that, directly contrary to normal book sales, several of his own novels sold (and have continued to sell) more copies after he made them available in the Baen Free Library than they did before).

Go, read, and soak up the arguments. Methinks they apply to fanart and fanfic just as well as to the topics that Flint is addressing directly. If only more authors/singers/artists felt this way and banded together to force the publishing/recording/TV & movie companies to fall in line... *wistful sigh*

Comments

[sunhawk16.livejournal.com]

*pops in to say hi* Hi! ^____^

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

*waves before dashing off to get ready for work* Hi!

[yanagi-wa.livejournal.com]

The only people who don't believe in free distribution are the people who make money by controlling it. *seconds wistful sigh*

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

Yep. *sigh* The ironic part is the fact that they just can't seem to "get" the idea that they could actually make more money just by being a little less controlling. *shakes head*

[faeriedustings.livejournal.com]

How's LWH coming? Still have writer's block?

[calic0cat.livejournal.com]

The writer's block was beginning to lift - until I got swamped by Real Life right at the time when the muse was becoming cooperative. :P I'm still getting a little writing done, so I'm not as badly off as I was, but stories are all coming along one painfully slow paragraph at a time (and, half the time, I end up rewriting said paragraph a few dozen times before I'm reasonably satisfied with it). Nothing's been abandoned but I'm not making any promises regarding what will be ready when, since then I just feel guilty for missing my self-imposed deadline, which only makes the muse even less cooperative.

DRM-damned rotten mess!

[(Anonymous)]

I have at least three different ebook readers on my PDA all of which take delight in being as complicated and neurotic as possible. I gave up on Microsoft Reader and Ereader and Mobipocket take turns sulking and not working! It's the same thing with downloaded audio; Overdrive providers won't work on ipods unless you take drastic measures to strip the DRM off the file which, of course, I would NEVER do ;-). My point is, if I pay for a book or music, it's mine and they shouldn't be able to dictate what kind of player or ebook reader I have to use. It's the automatic assumption of the industry that I will give away "their" property because I can!