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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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26 Comments | Leave a Comment..
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Reader Comments (rss)
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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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Just wondering...
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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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I agree with this. To an underground metal band, obscurity is a far bigger problem than piracy.
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Re: Re: Copyright, go away
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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: Re: Copyright, go away
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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Scabby Moon Pudding
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I bought physical copies.
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Re: Re: Copyright, go away
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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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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Can I stop us a moment..
"A good idea doesn't need protection".
Besautiful and true.
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Re: Just wondering...
Pareto rule 80% of your earnings will come from 20% of your customers.
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