Link Of The Week…And Other Interesting Tidbits

 

By: Stacey Purcell

The saga continues with the debate on Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act. Wikipedia is the latest website to protest the upcoming vote. They will go dark on Wednesday to demonstrate their objections- the opposition say several of the items in the act would stifle innovation. Jimmy Wales who is the co-founder of Wikipedia confirmed this decision by tweeting, “Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!”

They are joining forces with other big names like Yahoo, Amazon, and Google who are also protesting the verbiage of SOPA.

I understand that they have concerns about stifling creativity and innovation, but is anyone concerned with the artists who are losing billions of dollars to thieves? Are they trying to draft a more workable act- one that satisfies them while still protecting intellectual property? Can it be done or are they mutually exclusive?

Now for some links to cool spots for writers:

1. MichaelHyatt.com- He is CEO of one of the biggest publishing houses and has plenty of insightful things to say about our industry.

2.cba-ramblings.blogspot.com- Rachel is a literary agent who has great advice on how to improve your writing, get an agent, and find a publisher.

3. wildfiremarketing.blogspot.com- Rob has wonderful ideas on helping authors sell tons of books. He supplies practical advice on all levels of marketing.

 

Enjoy your week!!!

Let Me Steal Your Book!

Publication – is the auction of the Mind of Man.  ~Emily Dickinson

 

By:Stacey Purcell

I would like to tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was an author who wrote a novel. This novel took two years to create, many dollars spent polishing their work, sleep lost worrying about their story, and hundreds of hours taken from their families and friends. This creative endeavor came at a high price.

The author persevered and finished. Hooray, a novel is born. Now what?

Now they spend months, maybe years, sending it out to agents and editors. More money, more worry, more time away from their “life”. Perhaps it works and they score an agent/ editor. Perhaps they decide to publish it themselves. Whichever road they take will require more of everything including ulcer potential. (And they say writing isn’t glamorous!)

One way or another, the book is published and available for sale. Their hard work will now pay off.

Not so quick. The book goes on sale at 10am. By 10:30 it’s offered for free at a variety of web sites and the author won’t ever see a dime. And they lived happily ever after…..

 

Unfortunately, instead of being a fictional piece of writing, this is more like a documentary. Music, photography, art, scientific discovery, books (and the list goes on) have all been stolen from their creators. I believe this not only hurts the creator, it hurts the economy and damages the driving force of what makes most countries thrive. Nations are built and maintained by the innovators, the creators of the next new thing to make our lives better- whether it is a new source of entertainment, a breakthrough in medicine or a streamlining of a business.

“Intellectual property is one of America’s chief job creators and competitive advantages in the global marketplace, yet Inventors, authors, and entrepreneurs have been forced to stand by and watch as their works are stolen by foreign infringers beyond the reach of current U.S. laws.” Rep. Goodlatte

If the reward for that hard work is stripped away, the innovations will slowly fade away as well. We compromise our health as a nation.

There are two Acts before our governing bodies that are designed to help protect the theft of intellectual property. SOPA and PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act and Pro-IP Act/ Protect IP Act) Both are designed to do more than the current “safe harbor” system that is in place. If a creator finds that a web site is offering their material without their permission, they must submit a notice telling them to take down the material and then the site is given a certain amount of time to take it down. SOPA would override the “safe harbor” system and “allow a judge to immediately block access to sites that are found guilty of hosting copyrighted material.”

SOPA is a bill that expands law enforcers and copyright holders ability to fight online piracy. Actions, through this, could include barring advertising networks and payment companies, like Pay Pal, from doing business with the site in question. They can also require Internet service providers to block access to these sites.( At the moment, the most we can hope for is that a web site in another country will positively respond to our request to take down our books. Law suits would be completely futile.)

As with any other major change, it is difficult. Vehement, passionate arguments can be made for both sides. Companies like Google, Yahoo, AOL, Twitter, FaceBook, Zynga, Mozilla, eBay, and LinkedIn posted an open letter to the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives outlining their arguments stating that SOPA would stifle creativity and innovation on the internet that has created many jobs. It also said that it would be a threat to our cyber-security. (Not sure I understand that one.) Yahoo has also reportedly dropped its membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over their support of this bill.

Naysayers state that it will threaten online freedom of speech, threaten users uploading content, have a negative impact on websites that host user content, it’s a general threat to web-related businesses, it’s a threat to internal networks, and threatens open source software. They agree that something has to be done about this piracy but think that the wording is too vague and is open to misuse.

So who’s right? I don’t know. I can only share what I think- I believe the spirit of SOPA is something that is desperately needed. Right now, the creator has to hunt down rogue sites, craft a letter and hope for the best. I know of an author who took it a step further and also contacted all the advertisers and host of the web site stating she would make it public knowledge that they supported online piracy by placing their businesses on said site. It seemed to work for her. So now we not only have to try and write books, juggle our private lives, and learn how to be marketers, we have to be internet sleuths and strategic blackmailers.

The spirit is right, but what about the wording. So much of it is in “legalease”, it’s difficult for a lay person like me to tell. I don’t want a community like they have in China where everything is censored or blocked. Would SOPA allow that to happen? Well, when they figure it out and put it in plain English- I’ll let you know.

 

 

If you are interested in this issue, this is a nice place to start.

 

http://www.theglobalipcenter.com/

Lawsuits, Cowboys, and Free Speech

Song of the Day: Amarillo by Morning by George Strait

Have you ever been sued? Most have not. I’m willing to bet some of you have.

This probably won’t come as a surprise to those who know me, but I have. And it wasn’t for some piddly amount either. Not like my hubby when his psycho ex-girlfriend sued him for the cost of a 12 inch TV and a package of underwear.

Oh no. I was sued for a much bigger sum. Think of a number. Now go bigger. No, bigger. I was sued for a whopping one million dollars. Why was I being sued for a million smackeroos? Let’s just say the Mercedes did not have the right of way.  Unfortunately, the owner didn’t see it that way and my driving came under scrutiny, as I was driving a rental while my Cutlass was in the shop for repairs from a previous accident. Doesn’t look good, does it? At nineteen, there wasn’t much chance the plaintiff would see one cent out of me. I had nothing to my name but a beat-up Oldsmobile worth maybe five grand after a good spit shine. And as the saying goes, you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. Needless to say, the case was dropped as the owner came under fire for possible insurance fraud.

So why am I talking about crazy litigations? My good friend Christie Craig is being sued by TxDot (Texas Department of Transportation) over the title of her latest humorous romance, Don’t Mess With Texas. Don’t Mess With Texas is also the anti-litter slogan adopted by TxDot many years ago. In a nutshell, TxDot feels that the use of the title violates Texas’s trademark. But that’s not how it all began. TxDot first filed for an injunction to prevent selling Christie’s book, claiming her book would damage Texas’ reputation because her book contains love scenes…between a man and a woman…in a committed relationship…practicing safe sex. When a judge struck down that lawsuit based on the First Amendment of free speech, TxDot slipped in the backdoor citing trademark violations and dilution. Never mind the slogan has been used numerous times in songs and magazines, as well as on clothing.

I love my state. I was born and raised here. We Texans are a rather proud lot. But as a Texan, I’m thoroughly disgusted and embarrassed by what TxDot is trying to do. I’m outraged that in a time of economic strain my tax dollars are wasted on pursuing such a ridiculous lawsuit.

Another writer friend of mine, Suzan Harden, has proposed a write-in campaign to the state’s governor, Gov. Rick Perry (you might have heard of him, ) to put an end to such frivolity. Stop by her blog for more information.

http://wildwickedwacky.blogspot.com/2011/10/txdot-v-christie-craig-write-in.html

Whether you are a Texan or not, whether you are a writer or not, this type of lawsuit affects us all. It’s an attack on our free speech. It’s abuse of our tax dollars. We must make a fuss over this and be heard. Feel free to join me.

Snail Mail: The Honorable Rick Perry, PO Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711-2428
Website: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/
Phone No: (512) 463-2000
Twitter: @GovernorPerry (mention @TxDOT and @Christie_Craig)

Ever been sued? Have an opinion about this lawsuit? I’d love to hear from you.

“Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down”

No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published.  ~Russell Lynes

By: Stacey Purcell

I’m sure a lot of you have read about author Kiana Davenport’s trouble with a large traditional publishing house. In case you haven’t, I’ll do a short re-cap. This author signed a deal for a book that she wrote which was due to come out in 2012.

So far, so good.

Ms. Davenport has won numerous awards, been previously published and by all rights is a wonderful writer. She is also a fashion model who lived the high life and spent most all of her money. She submitted and was accepted by Riverhead, an imprint of Penguin books. The terms for her new contract were less than what she used to command, but she needed the money that the advance would pay.

Just prior to this arrangement, she came across Joe Konrath’s blog about self-publishing and turned to him for help. With a bit of guidance, she sold a collection of short stories and was successful! She then published a second collection and  the proverbial poop hit the fan!

 “The editor shouted at me repeatedly on the phone.  I was accused of breaching my contract (which I did not) but worse, of ‘blatantly betraying them with Amazon,’ their biggest and most intimidating competitor.  I was not trustworthy.  I was sleeping with the enemy.”

Kiana Davenport immediately hired a lawyer. (Good for her!) He pointed out that the first collection was published before she signed the contract, so they turned their attention to the second collection and demanded that she take it off line, erase all mention on the internet about her short stories and that she submit in writing that she would not publish any of her back log items while her current book was with them. (That would represent a good two or more years of her life.)

Can you say straight jacket?

She refused. (Yay!) They terminated their contract and demanded her advance back. They are also holding her novel hostage until she sends them the money. That’s the whole sordid affair in a nutshell.

My first response to reading about her plight was disbelief. I simply couldn’t believe that an established business under the banner of an even bigger company would resort to classic bully tactics fronted by their legal department. After spending several hours researching articles posted by several amazing bloggers (lawyers included), I can say I was wrong. Do they not realize writers have blogs? Stories like this WILL get out and spread like wild fire.

Authors are urged to remember they are “professionals” in most every writing group out there. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it ad nauseum to always be on my best behavior, remember this is a profession, dress appropriately etc. etc. etc. So I ask the question, “How professional was it that the editor screamed at her over the phone? How professional was it that they called her agent offering treats so she would move forward in the right spirit?” I would also answer the questions by saying that they seem to be on shaky legal ground.

I haven’t seen the contract, I can only interpret the actions by both parties. If the publisher thought they had an iron clad legal stand, there wouldn’t be such an emotional outburst on the editor’s part, and they wouldn’t have tried to offer incentives for her to agree to their terms.

“The vice president and publisher of that house called my agent, offering extra little sweetmeats if I would just capitulate and ‘adopt the right spirit going forward.’  This somewhat sinister and semi-benevolent attempt at mind-control fascinated me.”

I think someone at Riverhead omitted the clause about what they would allow her to publish or not publish during the tenure of their agreement. I also think that if all of the above is true, then they are in breach of contract. By terminating the contract and demanding the advance back, on baseless grounds, they are now in the wrong. I believe they are bluffing by demanding the advance back and I’ll bet that her lawyer is telling her much the same thing. **Remember, I’m not a lawyer and am only expressing my thoughts.**

This whole story makes me sad. Not every publisher is a bad guy, some actually support the idea that the author is out there drumming up business and making their presence known on line. It seems to me that it’s a win-win situation and a model that would help traditional publishers stay afloat in this tumultuous time. Scenarios, like this, hurt everyone and I hope that the coming days as the landscape dramatically changes in our business, we will see calmer, more rational behavior from all.

Wouldn’t That Blow Your Dress Up? English Translation = Are You Kidding Me?

Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.  ~Mark Twain

By: Stacey Purcell

  A very interesting thing happened this week in the writing world. I’m interested because I’m from Texas, love Texas, am proud of Texas and think it’s one of the best places in the world. I’m also interested because the author it affected lives in Texas and happens to be a friend of mine.

Christie Craig is a wonderful bestselling author and has just released a book called Don’t Mess With Texas. It’s a fun, sexy, sassy romp and is off to a good start. So, what’s the problem?

The Texas Department of Transportation is suing her, Hatchette, and Barnes and Noble for using their trademarked slogan. Not only are they suing the above, but they want to place a restraining order to have the 35,000 books that are printed to be pulled from the distributors, all the books destroyed and new ones could then be issued with a different title. Yesterday, a spokesperson for TxDot said that she couldn’t comment on this case, but that they had won a similar one in the past.

“I hope to be kicked to death by grasshoppers if it ain’t the truth.” Texas Saying

(English translation = I’m not lying.)

Let’s look at the facts. The slogan “Don’t Mess With Texas” is trademarked. No one can claim otherwise. It was created by Tim Mclure back in the 1980’s as an anti littering campaign. Super stars like Stevie Ray Vaughan did public service announcements playing his guitar and using those words. From that moment on, it spread like wildfire. Popular, doesn’t come close to describing the ads. It even dropped the amount of litter by 72% within the first four years!

Over the next thirty years, we’ve seen it on anything that could be printed on- t-shirts, mugs, key chains, underwear, banners, etc. It has become a part of our language and has been used in many different ways. In short, the people have taken ownership of this brilliant slogan and made it their own.

Who else has dared to use these famous words? Bobby Flay used it on The Food Network when he titled a dish Don’t Mess With Texas BBQ. Many different politicians have used it as part of their campaigns and there’s even an article about Texas lawsuit reform, with this title, instructing us that Governor Rick Perry created a law against frivolous law suits. (Juicy tidbit of irony!)  

So why Christie Craig?

TxDot’s suit states, “The book contains numerous graphic references to sexual acts, states of sexual arousal, etc. Since Barnes and Noble sells many TxDot materials with the slogan on them, having a book with that title would cause irreparable harm.” Apparently, if it’s for BBQ, campaigns or law reform then it’s OK, but throw in some sex and it’s taboo! What are they afraid of? Someone might think TxDot wrote a romance? Someone might think Christie’s book is about picking up litter?

My personal opinion is that this is a senseless use of the taxpayers’ money. Our highways are in desperate need of repair and the government is cutting back everywhere. Is this really the best use of our resources? I could give you a legal argument about dilution and confusion of the trademarked slogan, but I don’t have to.

Today, a federal judge, Judge Sam Sparks, denied the request for a restraining order. He cited the First Amendment and that the loss of revenue for the defendants, if they are prevented from selling the book, was too great. He also found that trademark registrations don’t apply to books and titles. Way to go, Judge Sparks!

Stay tuned for further developments………