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January 26, 2010: More scuttlebutt on Google
A couple of weeks ago we told you about a group of independent writers who have launched a petition to seek protection from the controversial Google book deal. There's more on it in this from John Barber in this morning's Globe and Mail:
Petition organizer and playwright David Bolt, literary executor of late playwright Carol Bolt, said the Canadian writers decided to speak out in part because the Writers' Union of Canada declined to take an official position on the settlement.
"They tried to work it from the inside," he said, adding that the (T)WUC achieved some success in achieving better terms for Canadian writers in the revised settlement. "But we thought we should go further and try to get the settlement rejected altogether."
Bolt may have overstated the position of our sister org, TWUC. They have negotiated improvements in certain aspects of the deal (read more to see which ones).
The deadline to opt out of the Google settlement remains January 28.
January 25, 2010: The Decline of Print, According to George Gates in The Atlantic
George Gates has an interesting take in the Atlantic Monthly on the indispensable writer's adage: Never use two words when one will do. His context is newspaper journalism but his points seem relevant to anyone considering the changes in readers perceptions that online writing have wrought.
On the first day of my first real job in journalism - on the copy desk at the Royal Oak Daily Tribune in Royal Oak, Michigan - the chief copy editor said, "Remember, every word you cut saves the publisher money." At the time, saving the publisher money didn't strike me as the world's noblest ideal. These days, for anyone in journalism, it's more compelling.
January 22, 2010: A very particular talent... for life!
"He'd get up at 6 and before his kids were even out of bed, he would have written 500 to 700 words on a novel," continued Krizanc, who called his friend most mornings to find out how much he had written so far that day. "Then he'd take the kids to school, go to the Y and swim about 100 laps, and then set about the business side of being a writer, which would be a magazine article or a screenplay. And after dinner, he'd go upstairs and bang out a one-act play or something. He did more in a month than I do in most years.".
That's John Krizanc on Paul Quarrington. Vit Wagner covers it well in today's Toronto Star. In case there are writers out there who need a reminder of what can be done: read the rest here...
January 11, 2010: Looking to the Future: MagNet 2010
MagNet 2010 is less than 6 months away and the buzz is building! Stay tuned for more information from Magazines Canada, PWAC, and more.
World-class speakers. International publishing leaders... Now in its fourth year, Canada's Magazine Conference looks to the future of print - and how you can make the most of your business right now.
Be sure to mark your calendars for MagNet, Canada's Magazine Conference, June 1-4, 2010.
MagNet is Canada's premiere public policy, professional development and networking conference for magazine professionals - a SuperConference not to be missed! With over 60 sessions in all industry disciplines, networking opportunities and special events, MagNet guarantees you'll harness the power of print in 2010. magnet.magazinescanada.ca goes live February 2010...
January 07, 2010: Google news
A group of Canadian writers and publishers have mounted a campaign to try to get the federal government to resist the siren call of the Google book settlement deal, as other governments have in defense of their cultural output. From the press release:
"Katherine Gordon, former contracts lawyer and best-selling B.C. non-fiction author says it's not too late for the government to act. "But they need to step up to the plate now and protect Canadian writers. It's more than time for the federal government to recognize that a foreign corporation has blatantly appropriated copyrighted work from Canadians, and intervene to stop it."
The group points out that:
"New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa and India - all countries with English-language presses similar to Canada's - have been exempted from the settlement because they protested vigorously against it... We wish to protest just as loudly. The Governments of France and Germany protested that illegal digitization of books amounted to theft of a cultural heritage. We agree, and believe that Canada's heritage of Cultural nationalism should be applied to the Google settlement. All of continental Europe is now exempt, and so should Canada be."
The issue is complex and the arbitrary deadline of January 28th for writers to opt out is adding pressure to resolve the issue shortsightedly. One hopes the court will recognize that greater deliberation is required. In the meantime, individual writers and publishers are faced with a quandary.
At least one maverick author from China has taken action:
"Mian Mian, a counterculture writer known for her lurid tales of sex, drugs and nightlife, filed suit in October after the U.S. search giant scanned her latest book, Acid House, into its library.
The two sides were due in a Beijing court on Tuesday... the author wants damages of $8,950 US and a public apology.
In a statement, Google said it removed Mian Mian's works from its library as soon as it learned of the lawsuit. As of last month, Google had already scanned some 10 million titles into its database, most of which were still under copyright when they were scanned.
Last year Google paid $125 million to settle copyright violation claims with American authors and publishers. It is waiting for final court approval after objections by U.S. regulators and other companies that said it might hurt the growth of the electronic book market."
If Mian Mian succeeds a government-affiliated "union" in China is lining up to follow suit (pun intended). Google's strategy seems to point to settling all claims with money and an opt-out. Ah well, at least we'll get some kind of jurisprudence along the way. We can only hope that a "license" coerced by pure market forces as underpinned by the courts won't lower compensation standards for writers. If they get any lower we'll lose all distinction between profession and hobby...
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