From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2016 22:54:31 -0600 Are you saying, Kevin, that copyright no longer works for any industry, or is it just the scholarly publishing industry you want to see relieved of copyright protection? Do you believe, say, musicians should just give away their music for free and try to make a living on concerts, selling t-shirts, etc.? How about trade book authors, or authors of textbooks? How about painters or sculptors, or film makers, etc.? Sandy Thatcher > From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2016 10:28:33 +0000 > > It is probably worth remember that the policy of ignoring copyrights > granted by foreign governments, which is what SciHub is doing, was > also the stance of the American publishing industry throughout the > 19th century. Publishing grew as fast as it did in the U.S. in part > because it was able to publish works from abroad without negotiating > royalties, since our nation did not recognize rights over foreign IP. > > Copyright is not a god-given natural right, and we should avoid > reifying it. It is, in fact, a form of economic social engineering > design to achieve particular conditions. When it no longer serves its > purpose, it may be time to reconsider our commitment to the copyright > regime once again, as a policy decision made for specific historical > conditions that no longer obtain. > > Kevin -- Sanford G. Thatcher Frisco, TX 75034-5514 https://scholarsphere.psu.edu "If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying."-John Ruskin (1865) "The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything."-Walter Bagehot (1853) "Logic, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding."-Ambrose Bierce (1906)