[pp.int.general] Foreign publishers interested in a PP book on copyright?

[Kaj Sotala]

Greetings.

Last summer, Piraattipuolue was approached by Barrikadi, an imprint
for WSOY, the largest publisher in Finland. They publish topical
political and societal literature, and asked us if we'd be interested
in writing a book on copyright and file-sharing. Naturally, we agreed.
Me and my colleague Ahto Apajalahti signed a contract, and are hoping
to have the manuscript mostly done within a few weeks' time. (Those of
you who can read Finnish can find draft versions of the first three
chapters at http://blog.piraattipuolue.fi/2009/12/piraattikirjallisuuden-luvut-1-3/
)

The book is to have four chapters on file-sharing, three on copyright
in general and one on the Pirate movement. The first chapter explains
why file-sharing cannot be stopped without destroying fundamental
civil liberties. The second chapter surveys the supposed economic
damage caused by file-sharing (and finds little). The third chapter
points out all the benefits that file-sharing gives us. The fourth
chapter discusses the issue of remixes, fan fiction et cetera. After
it's been repeatedly alluded to in the previous chapters, the fifth
chapter finally explicitly explains that copyright in general is a
monopoly, and has evolved to a form where it's doing great damage to
culture. The sixth chapter discusses various ways to reform current
copyright laws. The seventh chapter is a more philosophical one,
discussing the way culture used to be something that was shared by
everyone, after which it came to be viewed as a form of property, and
how people are now once again starting to see it as something that
belongs to everyone. The eighth chapter briefly recaps the history of
the Pirate movement, tracing its ideological origins in the Free
Software movement and the online generation in general.

Now, the reason I'm writing this is that I suspect this book will be
of interest to people in other countries as well. The text of the book
will naturally be available as a free download, and we certainly
aren't going to pursue anyone producing unofficial translations, but
it'd be useful to also get it into print and bookstores in other
countries than just Finland. Do any of you non-Finns have contacts
with local publishers who might be interested in acquiring the
translation rights? I would imagine that at least Swedish companies
would be eager to capitalize on the success of Piratpartiet by putting
out a pro-pirate book from two sworn pirates. (Especially if Rick or
someone would be willing to contribute a foreword to the Swedish
edition.)

A possible limitation to the international appeal is that we are
taking a relatively Finland-centric approach. For example: In the
third chapter, I introduce the concept of "digital every man's
rights". This builds on the legal doctrine of every man's right, which
guarantees everyone the right to wander around in nature, camping and
picking berries and mushrooms, even if the land in question was
privately owned. AFAIK, the same doctrine exists in the other Nordic
countries, but not in all of Europe. We also discuss some Finnish
court cases and ridiculousness committed by the local copyright lobby.

On the other hand, a lot of the books critiquing copyright so far have
been pretty US-centric, so maybe this isn't as big of a problem as it
may seem. At least you will be spared the experience of seeing one
more writer appealing to the holy and sacred United States
constitution. ;-)