

Harper Lee sues for copyright of To Kill a Mockingbird - ComputerGuru
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22409195

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Aqueous
Wow. Mr. Pinkus (it is alleged) took advantage of his own uncle's death by
stealing the rights of an elderly woman to her award-winning, classic American
novel. Then he tried to avoid paying his dead uncle's company or estate its
due. Mr. Pinkus is a wonderful human being.

I'm no fan of copyright and this is why. The very fact that it can be
transferred like property, even "accidentally," means it is essentially
meaningless. It is not actually tied to the concept of an author's right to
his or her own work, and if it is trying to protect that right, it is failing.

~~~
droithomme
"I'm no fan of copyright and this is why"

So without copyright anyone can print To Kill a Mockingbird without paying
royalties to Harper Lee. How would that be a better system. Should she make
her money charging admission to public readings of her work, as is proposed
for musicians (making income from giving concerts rather than selling
recordings) in a copyrightless world?

~~~
Aqueous
Copyright is nearly useless in a world where there is an infinite supply of
any given work for negligible cost. Anyone can print anything without paying
royalties to anyone, with the only actual barrier between them and doing so
being an unenforcable, obsolete law made for a world with a _finite_ supply of
a work.

But I read Harper Lee's work and enjoyed it. I want to pay her for it, so I
don't just steal it without doing so. But I also don't want to pay a publisher
for Harper Lee's work because I don't know how much the publisher is going to
give Harper Lee directly. I'd much rather pay Harper Lee herself. I haven't
been coerced into doing so - I do so because I enjoyed her work and want to
pay her for it. This is particularly true if I acquired her work conveniently
at a time of my choosing using an outlet on the Internet that I know she
herself set up.

Louis CK, Radiohead, and Andrew Sullivan are all making a living on this
model. They are still selling recordings. They know that people will probably
still acquire their work without paying them, but make enough on the good
people who don't so to offset the cost, especially since in doing so they pay
middlemen nothing, or nearly nothing.

People will pay a lot for both convenience and the satisfaction of knowing
they compensated the original author him- or herself for an enjoyable
experience. Paraphrasing Jobs, stealing a work is only free if your time is
worth nothing. I don't need copyright to know that.

~~~
droithomme
"I want to pay her for it"

Here you go:

    
    
        Harper Lee
        c/o Hachette Book Group USA
        Grand Central Publishing
        237 Park Avenue
        New York, NY 10017
    

Looking forward to hearing how much you send her. Let me know.

~~~
Aqueous
@droithomme I was using Harper Lee as an example. I didn't actually take an
ebook and read it without paying her. I read To Kill a Mockingbird from a
print book I bought a long time ago, but will gladly send her a donation
anyway to offset the thievery of Mr. Pinkus.

Substitute any of the other names I mentioned in there and my argument still
holds. I have bought a subscription to Andrew Sullivan's blog, voluntarily
paid substantially more than $0 for _In Rainbows_ , and paid for Louis CK's
latest online only comedy special. Gladly.

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mhartl
I'm pretty sure the most common reaction to this will be "Wait—Harper Lee is
_alive_?"

~~~
colkassad
Mine was "He's a _she_?"

I knew Harper Lee was alive from listening to the excellent audiobook _On
Writing_ , authored and narrated by Stephen King. He stated his astonishment
that _To Kill a Mockingbird_ was the only novel she ever wrote, but in a
manner that never conveyed her gender (that I recall, anyway).

I even read the book years before without realizing that the author was a
woman. It's the only assigned reading I have ever had that I couldn't put
down.

~~~
mistercow
If I'm not mistaken (and I'm having trouble finding a reference, so I might
be), part of the reason that she chose to publish as Harper Lee (as opposed to
including her full name, Nelle) was to make her name more androgynous.
Basically the same concept as Jews changing their names in Hollywood, but
because of sexism instead of antisemitism.

~~~
adventured
Also see: J. K. Rowling

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auctiontheory
Even if you have read the original, the audiobook, narrated by Sissy Spacek,
is well worth a listen.

I do hope this Mr. Pinkus gets his just desserts.

