"Following your logic anytime a company is sold the employees should be paid a percentage of the profits."
I like the way you think.
"You can take your left leaning, entitled, socialist attitude some place else."
I, for one, will keep my left-leaning (let's not beat around the push, it's not leaning, it fell over a long time ago), socialist attitude right here, thanks.
At least the government has to pay lip service to working for the general public. Companies *have* to screw you over in every possible manner. If they're not squeezing out every inch of profit, they're not running the business correctly. There's not even a facade that they're on your side.
Yeah, that's completely fair, especially where eBook revenue is concerned. But I think the worry that publishing companies are somehow sneaking in clauses to completely screw the author is overblown.
Yes, you sign over some rights, obviously -- some copy rights. But no one is "forcing" her to sign those over.
There are some sneaky publishing contracts, but for the most part, contracts are pretty standard now. In any case, Hocking likely has an agent, and for someone with her kind of money, a lawyer, so it's extremely unlikely there's going to be some sort of sneaky fine print that screws her over.
Yes, but the author specifically hedges that by saying "not all of them may be good reasons," which, of course, is a tautology that doesn't really say anything, but makes it clear that the author thinks that a publishing contract is generally a bad idea.
Exactly which rights is she being forced to sign away? People are automatically assuming that a publishing contract is the devil, when I've rarely seen that to be the case. Should authors being making a higher percentage of profits? Maybe, but that's not really a case of rights.
Publishing is in a weird flux right now. eBooks are still not the primary means of reading for most people, and as such, a traditional publishing contract still has a lot of benefits. That said, self-publishing has some benefits too, such as keeping a much bigger chunk of the profits.
Really, what many people, TechDirt included, fail to realize is that one doesn't preclude the other, in most cases. You can publish some things with a traditional contract, and simultaneously put other things out into the eBook world. It's not mutually exclusive. I think the most successful authors are going to recognize that, and have a foot in both worlds.
I don't really care about your argument, but what? 'Paywall' is the 'n-word' of the Internet? I think the n-word is the n-word of the Internet, asshole.
I'd be ecstatic if the government paid for infrastructure upgrades. Oh well, since that will never happen, let's instead cut women's health funding and libraries/public radio to pay for unnecessary tax cuts and WAR! U-S-A! U-S-A!
As a Texan, let me say that I'm so glad I am able to save a few bucks while the schools here (annual contenders for the worst in the nation) are slashed even further. But that extra couple of hundred bucks is worth some stupid kids!
You missed one of my favorite lines from the story:
"This gives those sites content that they crave and also acts as a promotional tool, but more important, it distributes Conan content as quickly as possible, which is crucial to discouraging piracy. 'There's no need for some kid to become a bedroom programmer if the clips are already out there,' says Wooden. 'Our job is to give them the tools to share, so they don't have to rip.'"
Instead of being afraid of piracy and sharing in general, they're taking ownership of it and embracing it.
It's very possible -- but AHA's defense will likely be what I outlined, and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they won (though if I had to bet, I'd say they'd probably lose).
As lame as this is, I disagree with you that there's no chance of confusion. It may very well be the case that the phrase has become generic, and that may invalidate their trademark, but I can understand the argument that using the phrase "no animals were harmed" is understood to mean "the AHA has ensured no animals were harmed..."
On the post: Amazon Insists No Licenses Needed For Cloud Player, Google Thinking Of Skipping Licenses As Well
Re: Where do we send support?
http://consumerist.com/2006/12/email-amazons-executive-customer-service.html
On the post: Big Media To Innovative App Maker: Stop Innovating Without Our Permission!
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I like the way you think.
"You can take your left leaning, entitled, socialist attitude some place else."
I, for one, will keep my left-leaning (let's not beat around the push, it's not leaning, it fell over a long time ago), socialist attitude right here, thanks.
On the post: If AT&T Puts A Meter On Your Broadband, But That Meter Is Grossly Inaccurate, Is That Meter Really There?
Re: Re: Need for government oversight
On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal
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On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal
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There are some sneaky publishing contracts, but for the most part, contracts are pretty standard now. In any case, Hocking likely has an agent, and for someone with her kind of money, a lawyer, so it's extremely unlikely there's going to be some sort of sneaky fine print that screws her over.
On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal
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On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal
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On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal
Really, what many people, TechDirt included, fail to realize is that one doesn't preclude the other, in most cases. You can publish some things with a traditional contract, and simultaneously put other things out into the eBook world. It's not mutually exclusive. I think the most successful authors are going to recognize that, and have a foot in both worlds.
On the post: Best Selling Author Turns Down Half A Million Dollar Publishing Contract To Self-Publish
On the post: It Took The NY Times 14 Months And $40 Million Dollars To Build The World's Stupidest Paywall?
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On the post: Down To Just 3 Senators Who Refuse To Say If They Anonymously Killed Whistleblower Bill
On the post: Senator Schumer Says Websites Should Default To HTTPS
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On the post: While Texas Politicians Claim $600 Million 'Lost' In Uncollected Online Sales Tax... It Means $600 Million Texans Saved
On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account
Re:
On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account
"This gives those sites content that they crave and also acts as a promotional tool, but more important, it distributes Conan content as quickly as possible, which is crucial to discouraging piracy. 'There's no need for some kid to become a bedroom programmer if the clips are already out there,' says Wooden. 'Our job is to give them the tools to share, so they don't have to rip.'"
Instead of being afraid of piracy and sharing in general, they're taking ownership of it and embracing it.
On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account
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On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account
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On the post: Humane Association Trademarked 'No Animals Were Harmed'; Threatens King's Speech With Infringement Claim
Re: Re:
On the post: Humane Association Trademarked 'No Animals Were Harmed'; Threatens King's Speech With Infringement Claim
On the post: Star Wars Is A Remix
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