I’m always the last one to find out about stuff (ref., the non-existence of Santa, meningitis is BAD FOR YOU memo, etc). The latest incident in this long list is the SFWA’s (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) copyright infringement debacle with the text file sharing site Scribd.
Why’s and wherefore’s of said debacle can be found via Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing here or somewhat more histrionically from Charlie Stross on his blog.
Bottom line is that the SFWA pissed some people off. Some of those other people and a bandwagon of erstwhile onlookers are telling them to suck it. A brouhaha has ensued and bandwagon trains have been boarded and encircled.
Without giving a rat’s ass about the politics or parties involved, I hate to miss a good brouhaha, so A Vessel for Offering is now also available via Sribd in a variety of formats if you’re into that sort of thing. And even if you’re not, it’s still available.
Download link here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/673094/Vessel-for-Offering-CC
D.
Filed under: Tempests Tagged: | Doctorow, scribd, SFWA, Stross
George R. R. Martin posted some stuff on the SFWA on his LiveJournal on Dec. 1. GRRM seems to take a more…placating (that’s not quite the word I’m looking for, but it’ll have to do) tone than some of the others blogging about it, though in reading Doctorow’s post on BoingBoing, I can see where he’s coming from.
On a side note, I somehow missed the fact that Wincing at Light was already finished. I’m going to have to download it and check it out, especially if I can get it in a format that’s easy to read on my Axim.
Dammit I always refer to the name of your blog as the name of your book. I meant A Vessel for Offering, not Wincing at Light.
w00t! Thanks for the link, Kristin.
With regards to format, I’m completely open to uploading different formats if folks want them. I just started with the two most obvious choices. I’m more than happy to convert to something more useful if people want to make suggestions.
RE: GRRM’s blog
Honestly, I think Martin makes some good points about the continued value of SFWA as a trade organization. I’m not a SFWA member (nor do I qualify for membership), so I hesitate to pretend that I can say anything definitive about the organization. I’ve liked many of the sorts of things SFWA has done in the past, specifically, educating writers and publishers about what standard publishing contracts should look like and the rights that writers should retain.
Education really seems to be the organization’s strong suit — which, as GRRM points out, was SFWA’s original intent.
This latest fiasco is seems to be about the organization overextending it’s reach. SFWA isn’t a union, nor should it act like one, in my opinion.
Bottom line for me here is that this was a massive gaffe because someone ran a database query and didn’t bother to verify their results (which is just stoopid, especially when you’re taking that irretrievable step from privately bitching about it to making threatening legal noises but ultimately beside the point). That oversight damaged at least one professional writer’s credibility (i.e., Doctorow), but not irreparably by any stretch of the imagination.
In other words, this is not a huge deal. Like most tempests in a teacup, it’ll blow over and be forgotten rather quickly. People make mistakes. It happens.
What it *does* offer is a nice platform to raise awareness for Creative Commons issues, and since I’m a fan of the CC concept, I don’t mind rubbing SFWA’s nose in it a bit to get the message out.
Hey, I was just noticing the ground rules you set for the book. I enjoyed seeing the “humor” that you have in showing people how you really feel. I would probably write like that too, but the whole making up words words, and telling the teachers to bite me probably wouldn’t go over too well. But I enjoy reading them, and maybe I’ll take some of those theories to my college writing.
I’ll tell you what, kiddo, when you get out of high school, then you can write any way you want, too.
Until then, it’s nose to the grindstone and give your teachers what they ask for.
Then again, I don’t tell my boss to bite me (very often) either, so maybe my life isn’t that different after all. Except for the bit where I get paid.