JK Rowling goes after Scribd.com
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- It’s good to see being filthy rich hasn’t changed JK Rowling’s perspective on life.
The author the Harry Potter series has already “triumphed over small online publisher Steven Vander Ark,” p2pnet posted in September, 2008
Now she’s after Scribd.com, a popular free site for reading books online.
She and fellow authors Aravind Adiga and Ken Follett (big, but not JKR) have been “shocked” by the news their latest books are available to on Scribd, says The Guardian.
“We built a technology that’s broken all barriers to traditional publishing and in the process also built one of the largest readerships in the world,” says Scribd.
Not if I can help it, says Rowling.
Sci-fi author Christopher Priest is also featured on Scribd, says The Guardian.
According to him, authors are under the same threat as Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, the principal members of the multi-billion-dollar corporate music industry who claim they’re being “devastated” by filesharing, forcing them to sue the people who keep them in business.
“”The music industry has been practically ruined by this,” the story has Priest saying.
“The film industry is fighting hard and it’s got lots of money. The book industry is the poorest of the lot – we are vulnerable.”
Poor? JK Rowling?
As Quill & Quire sums it up, “Two of the planet’s bestselling authors, J.K. ‘I’ll kick Stephenie Meyer’s ass’ Rowling and John Grisham, are among several authors whose books have apparently been illegally uploaded,” it says, adding:
“Scribd.com was launched by a couple of twentysomething Harvard students, and has since become an attraction for a reported 55 million visitors each month. While the site boasts a number of legal uses – the Obama campaign used it to upload policy material and thereby sidestep media filters – it now looks to have succumbed to the ‘Napster effect,’ whereby copyrighted works are uploaded without permission and distributed for free.”
But never mind. JK will be able to tell Michelle Obama all about it when she has a dinner with her and other celebrities during a summit bash for spouses at the UK prime minister’s official 10 Downing Street residence, says The Telegraph.
“The spouses will have the same menu as the G20 leaders, dining elsewhere in 10 Downing Street,” says the story.
JK is not, of course, married to any of the leaders.
[NOTE: Yup. I know comments are turned off. I don't know how that happened and I'm trying to figure out how to turn them back on again. If anyone knows, please email me at p2pnet @ shaw dot ca. Thanks - Jon]
p2pnet – JK Rowling wins Harry Potter copyright case, September 9, 2008
The Guardian – JK Rowling leads fight against free books site Scribd, March 30, 2009
The Telegraph – G20 Summit: Michelle Obama to dine with JK Rowling, April 1, 2009
Quill & Quire – Arrr! J.K. Rowling and John Grisham fall victim to pirates, March 30, 2009
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