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Showing results for tags 'a note on copyright'.
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Hi folks, since I'm partly responsible for the thread getting closed, I feel it only right that I go to the trouble of starting a new one wherein we can discuss wrestling books. But first, (and Phil or DEAN may choose to over-ride me on this), but as a professional in the book biz, I write, edit, and publish books for a living and (have since 1986 with it being my sole source of income since about 2003), I am perhaps uniquely sensitive to copyright issues but here's the nuts and bolts: Sites providing pirated copyrighted content are as verbatim as those providing illegal downloads of games, movies, etc. Posting links to such or promising to deliver via e-mail will not endear you to me and I can be a really vicious bastard when I want to. No, I'm not a big fan of the way copyright works, particularly not in the cases of abandoned material, here's a real life deal I'm facing today... Many years ago a teenage girl in London wrote a very cool vampire book, (early 1960s, mods and rockers as vampires). I would love to reprint the book as beat-up paperbacks go for upwards of $250 and a nice hardcover can set you back a grand. And of course, the author doesn't see a penny of that. Problem is, a few years ago the author decided she didn't like Thatcher's UK or the modern world in general and went into some sort of hippie commune/retreat she refuses contact with anyone and just wants to be left alone. Yeah, my opinion is that she's batshit crazy, there are probably a 1000 or more hardcore fans that would buy a nice new edition which I could easily facilitate (I have the book and I'm senior editor for a pretty prestigious press that specializes in this kind of thing); but ya know what? It ain't mine to publish. Barring a signed document from the copyright owner it stays unpublished, that's tough, but that's just the way it is, it's not my property or my decision. Yes, there are some gray areas like the Gary Hart book where the copyright holders have publicly said that they really don't care what happens, they have no interest in seeing the book reprinted. These cases are so few and far between as to not be worth discussion, simply stated if the book came out after 1925 there is a damn good chance that it is under copyright and unless you have permission don't disseminate the text. If you don't have the stones to go up to Meng and try and take his wallet, don't swipe stuff what ain't yours. BTW: I will be happy to help anyone research a copyright if they aren't sure about the procedure. Now, on an entirely commercial note, how many of you have bought this, and if not, why not? Steve Yohe is (with J. Michael Kenyon) far and away the best historian the graps game has ever seen and likely ever will see and this book is really state of the art as to what a history book should be. Yeah, I wrote the intro, but all credit goes to Steve and book designer / artist Gavin O'Keefe for making this something that should class up many a coffee table. I do have a couple of the hardcovers I can sell at a discount, $80 postpaid in the US, $100 overseas. The retail is $100 but when you see all the photographs you know where the money is going.
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