Scott Turow (@ScottTurow), author, lawyer, and president of the Authors Guild (@AuthorsGuild), writes in his commentary for The New York Times Opinion Page (@nytopinion) that the new, global electronic marketplace is rapidly depleting authors’ income streams. He says, “It seems almost every player — publishers, search engines, libraries, pirates and even some scholars — is vying for position at the authors’ expense."
Authors practice one of the few professions directly protected in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8), which instructs Congress “to promote the progress of Science and the useful Arts by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” The idea is that a diverse literary culture, created by authors whose livelihoods, and thus independence, can’t be threatened, is essential to democracy.
That culture is now at risk. The value of copyrights is being quickly depreciated, a crisis that hits hardest not best-selling authors like me, who have benefited from most of the recent changes in bookselling, but new and so-called midlist writers.
A counter-argument is presented by Jeff John Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts) in paidContent's "No, Scott Turow, Copyright is Not Killing American Authors."
What’s your reaction to Mr. Turow’s assessment? Write your comments below.
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