Academics behaving badly.
Authors and their friends will have heard of the IA, which appears to be freely and incontinently giving away to all and sundry that to which they have no rights at all. Their rationale seems to be that all the world has an emergency need for free reading, because of the pandemic.
Apparently, the Boston Library President supports this book piracy, and David C. Lowery has twelve stinging public questions for David Leonard.
https://thetrichordist.com/2020/03/29/12-questions-for-boston-public-library-president-on-emergency-national-library-endorsement/
The questions are well worth our readers' time. It does not appear that David Leonard has replied at all.
Pastors behaving badly?
Times are tough, and with luck, there's plenty of generosity and grace to go around... but, "thou shalt not steal."
Legal bloggers Caleb Green and Andrea L. Arndt for Dickinson Wright warn religious institutions to think twice before making their new live streaming performances irresponsibly modern and larded with copyrighted bells and whistles. The religious exception does not extend to performances, distribution/publication outside of the house of worship. Facebook is not a house of worship. Nor is a private home.
Original link:
https://www.dickinson-wright.com/news-alerts/religious-institutions-v-covid19
Lexology link:
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=1ee63c5f-cf73-408a-9c4d-386ed3e03186
The Prager U has an interesting analysis of what constitutes "stealing", and it includes all forms of property including intellectual property.
Warning, the U is heavily supported by advertising.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/explore-the-bible/4-things-you-never-knew-thou-shalt-not-steal-applied-to.html
Local politicians behaving badly.
While political campaigns generally pay for the appropriate licenses to play popular music to entertain crowds at rallies and other gatherings, local councilmen who choose to perform copyrighted rock and pop songs on Facebook, YouTube, and on local television to "cheer up" and endear themselves to their bored constituents may well not know or bother to buy licenses.
The usual suspects behaving badly (SNAFU)
As MTP points out from time to time, whether times are hard or good, Facebook always does well, and always at the expense of creators.
https://musictechpolicy.com/2020/03/27/arw-poll-results-facebook-should-pay-independent-artists-and-songwriters-in-cash/
One cannot pay the rent with "advertising credit," and if the old piracy argument that piracy is free advertising hold true, why should artists pay pirates to advertise on the pirates' platforms?
PS. An anonymous librarian has replied with an open letter to the multi-millionaire pirate running the so-called Internet Archive. Please share!
https://thetrichordist.com/2020/04/05/open-letter-to-brewster-kahle-from-anonymous-librarian/
All the best,
Rowena Cherry
SPACE SNARK™ http://www.spacesnark.com/ http://www.rowenacherry.com
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