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

[Andrew Norton]

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My wife works at a college textbook pre-press company, I'll pass the
word along there.

On 12/30/2009 3:21 PM, Kaj Sotala wrote:
> 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. ;-)
> ____________________________________________________
> Pirate Parties International - General Talk
> pp.international.general at lists.pirateweb.net
> http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general

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