Author Topic: COPYRIGHT LAWS and the WEB  (Read 1486 times)

Offline speedermike

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COPYRIGHT LAWS and the WEB
« on: March 13, 2012, 08:30 PM »
This is more of a discussion starter, but I'm curious about how people feel about copyright laws and the internet.  I make my living with copyrighted material, but until recently my work (children's books) had never been pirated or bootlegged.  However, I recently saw my graphic novels available as a free download and I got very angry.

Happily, I ma not a hypocrite.  I can honestly say that I have only once downloaded an album for free.  It was something I had been waiting for a long time for, and I was really excited for it.  However, when it came out officially, I bought a CD.  I also have never watched a downloaded movie, except for 20 minutes of Iron Man  that was playing in a classroom at the high school I was teaching in on the last day of school.

I am very disturbed by this recent trend that some people think that entertainment is a right, and not something to be paid for.

Another thing that is bothering me are the other flagrant violations of copyright that I am seeing every day.  On Rebelscum, they had an article and link to a guy on Kickstarter who was raising money to make Star Wars infant clothes.  He didn't have a license.  Why should he get to sell his Star Wars stuff without paying Lucasfilm, when someone like Asley Eckstien is paying a license for her Star Wars product.  And please don't tell me that the Kickstarter guy "isn't making a lot"...that's not the issue.

Thoughts?
Children's Book Author and Illustrator   mikerexbooks.blogspot.com