13 Feb
2013
13 Feb
'13
8:26 p.m.
On Wednesday 13 February 2013 14:04:33 Al Thompson wrote:
On 02/13/2013 09:37 AM, drew Roberts wrote:
Well, the Pengiun folks are breaking a law, since the things they copy
are public domain.
Is it safe to assume that that is a typo and you meant they are not breaking
the law since those works are in the public domain?
It's
hardly easy to make money by SELLING what is available for FREE.
Sure, it happens. There are a few places on the internet where you can
pay to download something (like an owner's manual) that is available FOR
FREE on the manufacturer's website. Since the manufacturer in this case
makes it available for free, they aren't really ripping off the
manufacturer, but I'd say they are ripping off the consumer.
So, those Penguin folks are ripping off the consumer? I mean, you could
download the books from Project Gutenberg right? Should someone alert the
authorities that they are ripping off the consumers?
Here is a point you are ignoring. If you can't make money selling things
that are legal to copy and that can be obtained for free. How can you
make money selling things that are illegal to copy but are also available
for free via download however illegally? How do people sell knokcoff CDs
and DVDs when they are available as free downloads? They are not infringing any copyrights, and are not
making use of someone's property illegally.
When did the book go from being the property of Dickens or his heirs to being
the property of the public? Does a bit of land work that way? Or a sofa?
So, why the claim that an artist could not make money if their published works
immediately went into the public domain?
How can the Penguin folks make money printing and selling these books when any
other company anywhere in the world can do the same without paying them a
fee?
Are they "ripping people
off?" I don't know. Go ask their customers if they knew they could
have gotten all of that legally for free.
From what I've seen, people buy pirated DVDs because they either don't
have a DVD burner, or they believe that it is safer to buy it for cash
at some flea market where there is no paper trail leading to them.
So, why do they buy from the people who do not support the artists they like
rather then from the people who do support the artists they like? What drives
them to do this to bands they love?
all the best,
drew