• sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        I have talked to a few published authors (most unsuccessful) and listened to a few successful published authors, and they all say the same as you. Some of them (esp. successful) give away free books on their website. They just want people to read their books.

        The ones complaining here aren’t the authors, but the publishers.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      That depends on if you see the current copyright system as far to start with. The current system is a far cry from how it was created and was co-opted by companies like Disney to maintain monopolies on their IP for MUCH longer than the system was supposed to protect.

      • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)@pawb.social
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        3 months ago

        This. If I’m not mistaken, the system was meant to operate like a hybrid between patents and trademarks. Iirc, things weren’t originally under copyright by default and you had to regularly renew your copyright in order to keep it. Most of the media in the public domain is a result of companies failing to properly claim or renew copyright before the laws were changed. My understanding is that the reason for this was because the intent was to protect you from having your IP stolen while it was profitable to you, but then release said IP into the public domain once it was no longer profitable (aka wasn’t worth renewing copyright on).

        Then corpos spent a lot of money rewriting the system and now practically everything even remotely creative is under copyright that’s effectively indefinite.

      • ripcord@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Copyright serves a very useful purpose. It’s just been twisted into something it wasn’t meant to be.