Re: Orphan Works Act of 2008

This act is necessary for the publishing cartel because as they start
changing copyright infringement into a crime, they can no longer rely upon
self-publishers having no hope of prosecuting infringement when they
wilfully appropriate their works - they're now faced with such appropriation
being prosecuted by the state. This orphan works act thus restores the carte
blanche they've always been used to to appropriate copyrighted works from
the little guy.

Hopefully, we can take it as another reminder that copyright is a weapon to
be wielded by large and commercial publishers, not mere citizens (even if
they do end up on its pointy end). So, if you thought the NC on CC-NC had
any positive effect at all (it has plenty of negative, self-harming and
community-harming effects), you should now realise it's completely impotent
against commercial publishers.

What the traditional/corporate publishers don't realise is that by
preserving their ability to appropriate 'supposedly copyrighted' work from
the little guys (defunct non-cartel members and self-publishers), whilst
remaining able to prosecute infringements of their own works, they are
simply helping self-publishers wean themselves away from any delusions that
the copyright based business model remains viable.

For self-publishers, it is copyleft or don't publish. Any pretense at
constraint simply hurts promotion of the art and the artists' reputation -
as well as impacting any revenue.

So, copyleft licenses (with no naïve clauses such as 'mandatory
attribution', 'non-commercial', or 'no derivatives') will help
self-publishers come to terms with the post-copyright reality.

The more people understand that copyright is for traditional publishers and
not for citizens, the more self-publishers will start using business models
that not only don't depend on copyright, but positively thrive upon its
ineffectiveness or absence.

Traditional publishers are unwittingly cultivating the best environment for
their primary competitors to thrive and overtake them - the public.