Morning Coffee – 20 April 2020

20.04.2020 Nate Hoffelder 4 Comments

Here are a few stories to read this Monday morning.

LitHub has published a gallery of rather odd anthropomorphized books.
Brian Frye believes that creators wanting to be paid for their labor is "pure landlordism" (and to think this guy is supposed to be a law professor, and not just an internet leftie).
MacStories says PDF Expert is the best PDF app for the iPhone.
Podcast downloads have dropped like a stone now that no one is commuting any more. Audiobooks will likely show a similar decline when the sales stats are announced.
Dracula was only the second best-selling horror novel when it was published in 1897.
The National Writer’s Union has a detailed overview on the Internet Archive’s current pirate activities.
The latest copyright infringement ruling against Charter relies on both mind-reading and third-part liability to justify the decision.
Amazon is removing buy buttons on books as supplies run low.
This Q&A shows just how much the pandemic has changed book promotion.
LitReactor has 9 tips for improving your audiobook habits.

Comments

Disgusting Dude April 20, 2020 um 11:04 am

Uh, in case you hadn’t noticed, Law Professors, as a class *are* internet lefties.
Especially in Ivy League schools. Totally divorced from reality.
Remember "Information wants to be free?"
Anti-copyright, anti-patent, anti commerce, anti-success.

Nate Hoffelder April 20, 2020 um 11:45 am

yeah, well, I still expected his arguments to show a certain level of ability

roberto April 20, 2020 um 11:42 am

Just as an opposite experience, any law professors (around half a dozen) or judges (around a dozen) I´ve met personally so far were all deeply conservative, some of them not just alt-right but far right… Following sometimes even horrendously stupid laws to the letter, against any sense, simple humanism or better 'judgement'. Maybe you need this kind of attitude to be able to serve in that area, I don´t know, but I never felt a chance liking them and/or bonding with them as a human being.

I am very open about any discussion regarding copyright and I do realize the importance of being paid for your art and artisan work in order to keep any creative art alive! However, there are many options you could go with, not just plain copyright and DMCA. The problem is, that too many 'middle men' try to gain profit from the sale of the used medium (in case of a particular movie: VHS, Beta, CLV Laserdisc, CAV Laserdisc, VideoCD, CD-I, DVD, Bluray, Direct Download, Prepaid Streaming, oh and of course at least once in a cinema near you… Is it really a wonder if people start demanding free downloads after the third of these x instances? And it is not even the creators who benefit the most from these profits. The same goes for the music industry, or the books and comics, although these last two usually DO need a medium like paper, whereas music can come for free through the radio and a movie – in the end – for free through a telly.

My 'solution' would be, general payment for creative people with output that interests more than just themselves should get payment from 'everyone', through a small percentage of your taxes for instance. A national (or even international) fund for artists and artisans, paying out their monthly wages in accordance with a certain measurement or ratio, for instance distribution reach (people), included advertisements, likes, transported humanist values, accuracy/accountability etc.
I have of course not figured this out, but it is also neither my job nor duty – there are far more intelligent people out there who definitely could come up with viable options if there would be a political will and a public support.

Nowadays you really can say: get rid of the middle man! The so-called 'gatekeeper function' is not valid anymore, EVERY newspaper is (re)printing or at least partially using facebook/blog/instagram BS, every publisher jumps on indie self-published work if it seems economically reasonable, and every musician has her/his own webpage, shop and concert list.
The middle man industry is slowly dying and DMCA’s and 'righty law professors' are its last resort. IF there are lefty law professors, they just add to my case from a more populist angle (which indeed seems to be en vogue nowadays, from both sides, unfortunately…)

My two cents. Sorry for being long.