[blindlaw] West Publishing

Thu Sep 2 03:03:09 UTC 2010

Good evening James,

I don't recall saying that an author shouldn't be paid for her effort, so I will ignore that question.

Why should a publisher be in the business of publishing? Right now they are in the business to turn a profit (like everyone else).  I don't know if there would be an economic incentive for publishing companies if intellectual property rights were abolished.  I don't see the abolition of the publishing industry as a likelyhood, people will still want to purchase books (those fancy containers for words and ideas) and someone will need to produce them. That being said, I don't think that the abolishment of an industry is necessarily a good reason to keep intellectual property laws alive. I Suppose the reverse question is valid here, why do so many authors freely distribute their works online?  Why does open source software exist?

I would be content with a compromise model that would see only private individuals able to own rights in intellectual property, and not corporations.  This would see benefit for ownership pass to content creators, and not corporations... but, I'd still prefer the abolishment model.

I am aware that my suggestions are not practically implementable in a society / economy predicated on capitalist ideals.

Thanks,

Everett Zufelt
http://zufelt.ca

Follow me on Twitter
http://twitter.com/ezufelt

View my LinkedIn Profile
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt

On 2010-09-01, at 10:43 PM, James Pepper wrote:

> So why is it OK for you to charge for you effort but not an author?
>  Why should publishers build companies, hire people to make books,
> distribut those books, advertise them, warehouse them, why shouldn't they
> get paid for their effort?
> 
> 
> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 9:30 PM, E.J. Zufelt <lists at zufelt.ca> wrote:
> 
>> Good evening James,
>> 
>> I am not ok with you taking away all of my assets from "thinking".  I am ok
>> with you doing whatever you like with any intellectual property of mine that
>> I create and you find a copy of.  Take my articles, take my source code, and
>> use them to your benefit.
>> 
>> Should you need my assistance with something, or wish to hire me, I would
>> be happy to charge you for my time, something that is finite and which
>> cannot be duplicated.  But, once you have paid me for my time, do whatever
>> you'd like with the product of my labour.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Everett Zufelt
>> http://zufelt.ca
>> 
>> Follow me on Twitter
>> http://twitter.com/ezufelt
>> 
>> View my LinkedIn Profile
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 2010-09-01, at 10:18 PM, James Pepper wrote:
>> 
>>> So you are ok with me taking away all of your assets that you have
>>> accumulated in your lifetime from thinking.  So if you are a lawyer,
>>> everything you ever did, all of the cases, all of that effort is free and
>>> you never charged anyone for your work.
>>> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 8:50 PM, E.J. Zufelt <lists at zufelt.ca> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Good evening James,
>>>> 
>>>> As I am sure you are aware there is a difference between real property,
>>>> chattel, and intellectual property.  So, feel free to "take away" all of
>> my
>>>> intellectual property, I don't want it, only the benefit of its use
>> (which
>>>> all can share simultaneously), Please don't take away my real property
>> or
>>>> chattel, I'm not done with it yet... but you can have it when I am.
>>>> 
>>>> More seriously, I was wondering if you, or anyone else, can explain to
>> me
>>>> why they think there is actually a benefit to society as a whole to
>> having
>>>> intellectual content treated as property? I would also be interested in
>>>> hearing why intellectual property should all be in the public domain.
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Everett Zufelt
>>>> http://zufelt.ca
>>>> 
>>>> Follow me on Twitter
>>>> http://twitter.com/ezufelt
>>>> 
>>>> View my LinkedIn Profile
>>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 2010-09-01, at 9:42 PM, James Pepper wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Well if you want to give away other people's property then what stops
>>>> anyone
>>>>> from taking everything you own in the name of fairness.  After all you
>>>> are
>>>>> not using it to the best advantage, I can use it better.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 8:35 PM, James Pepper <b75205 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> The law for accessibility in documents is Section 508 and you can lay
>>>> out
>>>>>> your content correctly and still not be accessible.  The problem here
>> is
>>>>>> that there is no clear cut solution, whereas with a wheel chair ramp
>> the
>>>>>> solution is obvious, you build it, but with accessibility in
>> electronic
>>>>>> documents all you have to do is prove that the doucment is section 508
>>>>>> compliant and that is that.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Section 508 is not accessibility.  We all know this right here on this
>>>>>> list.  What is needed is a definition of accessibility that is a real
>>>>>> solution and is not a plessy versus ferguson type of situation where
>>>> people
>>>>>> claim that accessibility is in existence but it doesn't actually work.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> We are in the same boat.  The problem which has not been defined and I
>>>>>> define it here, is that software companies are only concerned with the
>>>>>> solution as it holds for their own software, they seek out section 508
>>>>>> compliance and that is all they can do.  They do not make their
>> content
>>>>>> accessible to a wide range of products because you cannot anticipate
>> all
>>>> of
>>>>>> the scenarios and so we are stuck in this situation where a publisher
>>>> can
>>>>>> lay out their content as accessible in section 508 and yet be
>> completely
>>>>>> inaccessible when it gets to market.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> There are so many variables that it is a miracle that anything is
>>>>>> accessible.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> But if you want it to work every time, you will have to pay for it.
>> And
>>>>>> don't look now but when a company makes its ramps accessible to the
>>>> disabled
>>>>>> that cost is recouped in the price of their product but you guys want
>>>> them
>>>>>> to give away books for free. Should houses be free for the blind, give
>>>> away
>>>>>> free cars.   I think we should re-evaluate this free book plan because
>>>> there
>>>>>> is no incentive to innovate in accessibility.  Why should anyone fix
>>>> this if
>>>>>> there is no benefit other than a pat on the back to solve this
>> problem?
>>>> You
>>>>>> want your books for free, so does everyone else.
>>>>>> 
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