Paulo Coelho On SOPA: 'Pirates Of The World, Unite And Pirate Everything I've Ever Written!'
from the it's-good-to-share dept
We've written about the hugely-successful Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho many times before, because he is a great example of an artist embracing piracy as a boon not a bane. So it's great to see him offering his thoughts on SOPA:
I have nothing against people earning money from their books; that’s how I make my living.
He then goes on to address two common objections to this attitude: that's he's rich enough to distribute books for free, and that other artists need money to live. To the first, he points out that being rich means he could have stopped writing years ago. He keeps on creating for the same reason that he started when he was unknown and poor: "because it gives me pleasure and gives meaning to my existence." To the second point, he writes:
But look at what’s happening now. Stop Online Piracy Act (S.O.P.A) may disrupt internet. This is a REAL DANGER, not only for Americans, but for all of us, as the law – if approved – will affect the whole planet.
And how do I feel about this?
As an author, I should be defending ‘intellectual property’, but I’m not.
Pirates of the world, unite and pirate everything I’ve ever written!‘Pirating’ can act as an introduction to an artist’s work. If you like his or her idea, then you will want to have it in your house; a good idea doesn’t need protection.
Those pushing SOPA and PIPA should read what this world-famous artist writes about piracy -- and maybe even try some of his novels, too. After all, they could not only download them for free, but they could do so without looking hypocritical.
The rest is either greed or ignorance
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Filed Under: paulo coelho, pipa, piracy, protect ip, sopa
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Just like most content creators.
No need for copyright.
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Up Yours MAFIAA !!!
If you like crazy old school punk go to bigmeathammer.com and download a ton of Audio 320k or Free DIVX Videos,etc.
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Just wondering...
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Re: Just wondering...
Think about a street musician who is doing it strictly for the money and does not get any satisfaction from entertaining people. Hundreds of people may hear him play in the subway, but only a few drop a significant amount of money in his tip jar. The hundreds who pause to listen for a few minutes and then walk on are like pirates who are enjoying the music without paying for it. From a business perspective, the musician does not care how many people listen for free; he only cares about how many people drop in his tip jar, and how much they drop in.
If the musician gets in a moral panic about the freeloaders he could stop playing in the subway. That way no freeloaders hear him, but also none of the tippers hear him, either. So his income drops to zero. As a businessman he cannot afford the moral panic. Once over the moral panic the musician may notice a few other things. For example, having a crowd standing around listening attracts people who leave tips; in effect the crowd of freeloaders is advertising. Having a crowd of freeloaders is likely to have other serendipitous effects. Someone in the crowd may inspire a new song. The freeloaders are also a focus group for testing new material. Perhaps someone in the crowd knows a band that is looking for a new musician, and the fellow gets hired.
This story is really just an illustration of the adage that an artist's real enemy is obscurity. An artist who worries about pirates is going to retract and become obscure.
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Re: Just wondering...
I haven't bought a CD in years. However, I listen to music all the time. There are MANY artists that I have discovered online that I have paid to go see perform. Large concerts and small venues alike. Sometimes I've traveled to different cities to see a performer I discovered online. I am willing to pay for their performances but not an ethereal digital file. If you are an entertainer and want to make money, then entertain. Placing a file on iTunes and charging people to make copies of it isn't entertaining me at all.
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Pareto rule 80% of your earnings will come from 20% of your customers.
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Just wondering...
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but heres the kicker, hes got relatives who also got to see thanks to him uploading he files to a file hosting/streaming site and letting them watch an episode or 2, full seasons bought at full price thanks to the evils of "piracy"
much of the music, video and game content I have bought over the past 2 decades has been thanks to being able to try it before i bought it, and what hasnt been was bought due to good word of mouth, much of that due to "piracy"
most other "pirates" I know are the same way, I got one buddy whos got 8 2tb hdd's in his home server, 4 in his main rig, and at least 2 each as storage drives in the other systems in his home, they all have stuff on them that hes torrented, BUT heres the thing, hes also bought 98% of what hes torrented, the stuff he hasnt bought you either cant buy here, or cant buy at all(old john wayne stuff for example)
hes downloaded far more then hes bought but, everything hes liked or that his family has liked hes bought legally, many times they keep the torrented files because, lets be honest, they are easier to watch on a computer of over the network via the HTPC then dealing with stupid plastic disks.
I wasnt sure he was being honest till i spent close to 2 months helping him catalog his stuff and get it into a database(make it easier to keep track of), hes even imported alot of stuff like anime that never got picked up by any us company, ofcorse he keeps the fansubs because, he like myself knows very little Japanese....
(dude has 3 large floor to celling bookshelves of imported anime alone...now thats dedication...)
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Copyright, go away
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Re: Copyright, go away
What needs to change is the acknowledgement that 'personal' use of any kind, including sharing, should constitute 'fair use'.
If I'm 'selling' someone else's work...that's a problem and that's what copyright is *meant* to protect. But freely sharing things shouldn't be the same thing as profiting off someone else.
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how about just respect the technological enhanced fair use when it happens.
That more than enough to protect without producing such an open ended interpretation
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That is why it needs to go if for no other reason for a timeout on the bench, abolish copyright and let the future deal with its ultimate fate, I very much doubt it would not appear in some form or another but it would appear with some humility in it.
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I agree with this. To an underground metal band, obscurity is a far bigger problem than piracy.
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Scabby Moon Pudding
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Re: Scabby Moon Pudding
he was forced to buy a 2nd hand hard cover because people who knew what was coming had cleaned out every local new and used book store's copies of the paperback.
the place that still had copies had used book club editions....at 18bucks each(no, im not kidding...i saw images of the price tag and recept)
he couldnt enjoy the book feeling so slighted by the price....
a couple years later I managed to get him to read the guys first book, without him realizing it was from that author, he got threw the first book and was calling me and messeging me online over and over wanting to know who it was by and where he could get the rest of the series...
the next day, he had gone to a large used book store in a nearby city and came home with new and used copies of every work the author had ever done or co-wrote.
I dont blame you for feeling adverse to the school or teacher, or even the book, but please, dont blame the author.
note: the books above where "fairy tail" and "magician" by Raymond E Feist. im really not sure why the instructor/teacher picked "Fairy Tail" but he did....
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I bought physical copies.
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Can I stop us a moment..
"A good idea doesn't need protection".
Besautiful and true.
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