From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 22 May 2014 20:04:29 -0400

Without for a minute wanting to appear to be supportive of the Authors
Guild, the piece by Stiles on the AG site does indeed capture the
essential quality of the Authors Alliance.  As a friend once said to
me, you can't be too cynical these days.

Joe Esposito


On Thu, May 22, 2014 at 7:41 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Laura Quilter <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 22 May 2014 00:56:28 -0400
>
> Yes, the Authors Guild has made it abundantly clear that its doesn't
> consider the actual interests and perspectives of academic authors as
> relevant to its organization.  But, since we are all copyright holders
> now, with our scholarly papers under the same copyright regime as
> someone else's bestselling novel, it seems obvious that the voices of
> the many different kinds of "authors" should be equally heard.  The
> Authors Guild took it upon themselves to (mis)represent scholarly
> writers, with their litigations against digitizing mostly academic
> works; this new organization comes directly from the significant
> problems with the Authors Guild claiming to so represent such a broad
> class.  Personally I'm very pleased that academic authors will now
> have an alternate voice that does speak to the interests of those the
> Authors Guild so seriously misrepresented.
>
> Honestly, I'm somewhat bemused by the Guild's kneejerk hostility.  I
> would have imagined there would be areas of strong mutual interest --
> terminations and publication contracts, just to start.
>
> As to the Authors Alliance's engagement with scholarly presses, I
> imagine that will be an item of great interest.  There are quite a few
> humanists on the advisory board (with quite a number of publications
> under their respective belts), so it looks hopeful.
>
> Laura Markstein Quilter / [log in to unmask]
> Attorney, Geek, Militant Librarian, Teacher
>
> Copyright and Information Policy Librarian
> University of Massachusetts, Amherst
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Lecturer, Simmons College, GSLIS
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 21, 2014 at 11:45 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > From: Lesley Ellen Harris <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: Wed, 21 May 2014 08:32:08 -0400
> >
> > Apologies if this was already mention in the discussions…The Authors
> > Guild is working hard to make it clear what the role of this new group
> > called the Authors Alliance is…and what exactly The Authors Guild
> > is…explanation at
> > http://www.authorsguild.org/general/what-is-the-authors-alliance/.
> >
> > Lesley
> > http://copyrightlaws.com
> >
> >
> > On May 20, 2014, at 11:38 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: Tue, 20 May 2014 00:08:03 -0500
> >
> > Given that this new enterprise seems to be the brainchild of Pamela
> > Samuelson, it seems to be aimed at mobilizing that group of authors
> > who do not depend on publications for their living but have a strong
> > interest, for career and other reasons, in maximizing free access to
> > their writings. It was clear from the Authors Guild suit against
> > Google that academics like Samuelson felt that the Guild did not
> > represent the interests of nonprofessional writers like her and her
> > academic colleagues, so now she wants an organization that will be
> > able to lobby for those interests.
> >
> > My question to her and her colleagues is what they think should happen
> > with scholarly publishing. Many of the people leading this new
> > Alliance and on its advisory board have benefited from publishing
> > books with university presses.  Are they going to try bringing
> > pressure on university administrators so that university presses are
> > funded in such a way as to enable them to engage in OA publishing of
> > monographs?  Or do they simply want to weaken copyright protections on
> > which university presses actually depend to conduct their business
> > now, since universities generally require their presses to recover
> > most of their costs from sales in the marketplace?
> >
> > I can see this Alliance as potentially helping scholarly publishing
> > move in a direction that will free it of the necessity to rely on
> > copyright protections, but if the Alliance is not careful, it could
> > end up killing the goose before it has a chance to lay the golden egg.
> >
> > Sandy Thatcher
> >
> >
> >
> > > From: Ann Shumelda Okerson <[log in to unmask]>
> > > Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 18:12:12 -0400
> > >
> > > Of possible interest:  https://authorsalliance.org/intro.html
> > >
> > > "The mission of Authors Alliance is to further the public interest in
> > > facilitating widespread access to works of authorship by helping
> > > authors navigate the opportunities and challenges of the digital age.
> > > We provide information and tools designed to help authors better
> > > understand and manage key legal, technological, and institutional
> > > aspects essential to a knowledge economy of abundance. We are also a
> > > voice for authors in discussions about public and institutional
> > > policies that might promote or inhibit broad dissemination.
> > >
> > > "If you are interested in our mission, please join us at our launch,
> > > 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday May 21st at the Internet Archive in San
> > > Francisco. For more details and to RSVP please visit:
> > >
> > > authorsalliance.eventbrite.com