Good writing is hard work and the sale of that
work is how I produce income, which is why I support US copyright laws. Those who use my work should pay for it
just as those who eat McDonald’s have to pay for hamburgers. As
most writers only get about $2 per hardcover, one can understand how important
it is to protect the copyright. It takes a lot of sales to cover the rent or buy groceries.
There
is a slight hitch to our copyright law, however. Unlike hamburgers, books can
be resold. The author gets no part of that. Nor do publishers and
they don’t like it.
Publishers scored big in 2011 when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their
favor in a case involving the resale of textbooks. (Read Publishers Weekly article) Simply stated, a student purchased
books that were produced elsewhere and resold them to his fellow
students. It is the “produced elsewhere” part of the transaction that got
him into trouble. The court agreed that he violated the law. No
problem there. However the court went on to rule that books produced
outside the jurisdiction of the US copyright law cannot be resold.
You
say "So what?" Where are many of our goods currently manufactured?
China. China is outside the jurisdiction of US law. Therefore a
book printed there cannot be resold. The market most affected is
textbooks. Publishers may have won a battle but, in doing so, they
knifed the kids and have potentially unleashed a reaction that will negatively
impact all writers.
A case in point: A theology student confessed to me that he used a pirated copy of
a textbook. He simply did not have $400 to buy it.
In
forcing students to buy new textbooks at ridiculously inflated prices,
US publishers are pushing them to pirate. If they overcome their
consciences often enough, they will not stop at textbooks. (Pirating is already
a big problem. Let’s not have divinity students piling on.) The end result is that
everyone loses: the students, the writers, and the publishers.
We
cannot undo the court’s decision. However we can encourage our publishers to
print books here so that they can be resold. We may not make any money on
the resales but at least we can keep our kids from stealing.
I wrote this blog several years ago and pirating remains an issue. The advent of ebooks and digital distribution has made the problem worse. Think about it the next time you grab something off the Internet. Are you taking a writer's grocery money?
