Loud Money

If it is true that "money talks", then megabucks funding probably talks a lot more loudly than romance authors' advance money.

Fortune Magazine discusses the power of financial incentives over some academics' writings.
http://fortune.com/2017/07/11/google-paying-professors-policy-papers/?xid=gn_editorspicks

To digress into science: Is it possible that there are few financial incentives for talking about the effects on sea temperature and atmospheric carbon levels of the underwater volcanic eruptions in Tonga?
https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=243040

And, to whimsically toss some politicians into the abyss: There's not a lot, one presumes, that "Paris" and the G-19 can do about underwater volcanoes.... Would Hollywood write a "Deep Impact" or "Asteroid" or "Space Cowboys" type science fiction movie involving plugging submarine magma flows?

By the way, if the sfr authors in our alien-romances audience have not considered The Weather Channel as a source of inspiration, maybe look at their "strangest weather" series for alien worlds' weather.

A similar premise (about the power of filthy lucre over opinion-leaders) was penned by the indefatigable Editor Charlie.
https://artistrightswatch.com/2017/07/13/mbridge82-whippletom-olivernmoody-google-pays-academics-millions-for-key-support/

Charlie seems to suggest that very rich indeed people can pay for an authoritative-seeming opinion to be written, and then cite that opinion as proof they they are not being wicked. (This is the kicker at the very end of Charlie's enchanting article. Do read it!)

MTP covers the matter, also.

The Trichordist muses that there are over 200 academic papers about copyright, trust/antitrust matters and more that do not disclose that they were funded by an interested party, and upon which government policy-makers may have relied.

The musicians and songwriters were more fascinating than the cloud of blogging lawyers this week!

All the best,
Rowena Cherry

Freeloading.... Chris Ruen and David Byrne

I shall be interviewing Chris Ruen on my radio show on May 21st (http://www.PWRTalk.com) but in the meantime, this film of Chris talking with David Byrne (of Talking Heads) about copyright infringement is both entertaining and enlightening.

I hope that Chairman Goodlatte and the good persons currently deciding whether copyright laws protect creators and artists are paying attention. Please take the time to go to this site  to locate contact information by your own zip code for your representatives in Congress, then write to them about the need for greater protections for copyright owners in the internet age.



If the embed code does not work, here is the link
http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/music-and-copyright-digital-era-david-byrne-conversation-chris-ruen

One of the most striking anecdotes was when Chris Ruen explained how, as a barrista in a coffee shop where musicians congregated, he noticed that they had less money than he did, and he started to question his ideas about ripping off musicians.

By the way, here are some articles about Copyright.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/the-copyright-and-concerns-of-content-creators-90219.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sandra-aistars/google-copyright-infringement_b_2782520.html

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/288763-protect-rights-of-artists-in-new-copyright-law

Best wishes,

Rowena Cherry