Re: digital-copyright Digest 24 Jul 2004 15:00:00 -0000 Issue 401

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mr. Holley may wish to consider moving from a fixed text, such as one would
find in a book, to a publishing service, such as a subscription-based
newsletter.  A fixed text is bound to get pirated (whether it is in
electronic form or in hardcopy, as I know from dark experiences I had in
Asia over the years).  A dynamic text, however, undercuts the pirating
impulse, as the content is meted out in portions, creating an incentive for
someone to subscribe rather than waiting to get an authorized copy from a
friend or anonymous contact on the file-sharing networks.  There are
economic issues on both sides, of course.  With a fixed text, all the money
comes in at once and there are no ongoing editorial obligations.  With a
dynamic, subscription-based text, editorial work must continue,  potentially
forever, and revenue is pushed back over the lifetime of the subscription.
I personally do not believe there is any future in selling (not
distributing, but selling) fixed texts in the Internet Age.  Of course, many
authors create works for reasons different from the aim of selling content.

Many readers of this list no doubt believe that all content should be free.
My own view is that this should be an author's choice (or a publisher's, if
an author assigns the rights to a publisher).  Nothing wrong with
tradtional, proprietary copyright, and there is nothing wrong with the
innovations that organizations such as Creative Commons are trying to bring
about.

Joe Esposito

----- Original Message ----- 
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Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 8:00 AM
Subject: digital-copyright Digest 24 Jul 2004 15:00:00 -0000 Issue 401


> digital-copyright Digest 24 Jul 2004 15:00:00 -0000 Issue 401
>
> Topics (messages 866 through 867):
>
> Question for This Discussion List
> 866 by: Robert P. Holley
>
> Survey of reading
> 867 by: Joseph J. Esposito
>
> Administrivia:
>
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 13:00:03 -0400
> To: digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: "Robert P. Holley" <aa3805@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Question for This Discussion List
> Message-ID: <41010BD3.20781.15F173@localhost>
>
> I'm hoping that those on this discussion list can help me with a very
> practical question about enforcing copyright in the digital world. I'm
> considering writing a short document on effective searching for the
> general public with the hopes of selling it on the Internet in some way
> that doesn't include spam. I'd also like to price it very low to get more
> orders.
>
> Even if I go to the effort of getting an official copyright from LC, I'm
> worried that there is very little that I can do to stop unauthorized
> copying and redistribution including perhaps reselling by others. I
> don't think that I want to play RIAA and go after copyright offenders.
>
> My conclusion to this point is that I'd have to get enough orders to
> make it worth my time before the document becomes freely
> available.
>
> Do the members of this discussion list have any suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Bob (plus contact information)
>
> Robert P. Holley
> Professor, Library & Information Science Program
> 106 Kresge Library
> Wayne State University
> Detroit, MI  48202
> 313-577-4021 (voice) 313-577-7563 (fax)
> AA3805@xxxxxxxxx (Internet)
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:33:04 -0700
> To: <digital-copyright@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> From: "Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "Olga Francois" <ofrancois@xxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Survey of reading
> Message-ID: <012301c470e3$844b9710$6501a8c0@jesposito>
>
> The following tidbit appeared in a recent summary by The Write News of a
> survey sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, and may be of
> interest to (or evoke perverse amusement from)  readers of this list:
>
> >Contrary to the overall decline in literary reading [10 percent and
> increasing], the number of people
> doing creative writing increased by 30 percent, from 11 million in 1982 to
> more than 14 million in 2002.
>
> In the current debate about copyright, what is not being said is that the
> supply of information (and not just of "literature") increasingly exceeds
> demand.  Copyright and business practices that do not take this into
account
> will not be successful.
>
> Joe Esposito
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of digital-copyright Digest
> ***********************************