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> Each story is Copyright (C) 2022 to its original authors, and all rights are reserved. The book is not public domain, nor is it Creative Commons. How is thi

> Each story is Copyright (C) 2022 to its original authors, and all rights are reserved. The book is not public domain, nor is it Creative Commons. How is this "free online edition" distinct from piracy, in that case?

michaelbuckbee 1y ago
It's hosted on one of the author's sites. The collection itself is (as far as I can tell) out of print. It's falling through the cracks of "too complicated for a publisher to figure the rights out of" and "not lucrative enough for anyone to care".
- wat10000 1y ago
  It’s possible that it’s being distributed with permission of the copyright holders. Given the number of different people involved that seems kind of unlikely, but “free” doesn’t have to imply a permissive license.
  - mindcrime 1y ago
    I think it's normal for the publisher to hold those rights (perhaps shared with the original authors, depending on the details of their agreements), so possibly all that would have been required here would be for the publisher to approve doing this. Or maybe Rucker and all of the other authors are friends, and keep in touch, and he just literally called all of the up and said "Hey, can I post Mirrorshades online for posterity?" and they all agreed. Who knows?
- Filligree 1y ago
  But it’s a published work. I wouldn’t expect the author to have rights to post it.
  - mindcrime 1y ago
    Not by default, no. But it seems entirely reasonable that he may have approached the original publisher, requested permission to post this, and received said permission. Considering that the print book has been out of print for some time, and given that the linked page does emphasize the copyright status of the works, this feels like the most likely scenario to me.
    - jll29 1y ago
      It would have been a good idea to add a note saying "republished here by permission of all copyright holders".
specproc 1y ago
He drew hard on his cigarette. Annoyance flickered across his face, like an artefact in the poorly-compressed bootleg movies he sold to his fellow low-lifes at The Pig and Drum. Some Corpo-type, no doubt. Can't help seeing something good scroll across their feed tube without calling Legal. He'd worked with a few in the past. Not bad all-in-all, at least they paid on time. That said, he could think of few he'd drink with. He toyed with the idea of leaving a bitchy comment. Probably get downvoted to oblivion. The dogs in the yard barked at a passing vehicle. Irritated by the animal noise and the corpo whining, he thrashed something out. Pulling another cigarette from his pack, he hit "reply".
- charlieglass 1y ago
  I gigglesnorted.
- mindcrime 1y ago
  The Pig and Drum. Please tell me that is a real place! :=)
  - specproc 1y ago
    It was.
- Michelangelo11 1y ago
  > Some Corpo-type, no doubt. The opposite. Consider Harlan Ellison's views on piracy: "If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump."
  - aidenn0 1y ago
    Harlan Ellison was an asshole though.
    - Michelangelo11 1y ago
      I wouldn't describe him that way but, at any rate, his point is right: pirating books is taking money out of authors' pockets. Corporations (publishers?) aren't hit hardest and don't care the most about it. You may prefer the same point expressed in less colorful language by Ursula K. LeGuin, from the same article as Ellison's quote: “I thought, who do these people think they are? Why do they think they can violate my copyright and get away with it?” https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12digital.html https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12dig... Now, as we found out in the meantime from Rudy Rucker's comment, this anthology isn't pirated after all. If you put up your work for free, there's no piracy.
dfxm12 1y ago
Consider the popular cliche, "free as in beer vs free as in speech". The rights copyright gives you, briefly, includes: copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work. What suggests there is piracy is going on?
- Finnucane 1y ago
  In 1986, it was unlikely that the original contract for the book mentioned anything about electronic rights. As it was a reprint anthology, the rights purchased would have only covered the use in the anthology as long as it was in print. Which means that to post the book online, Rucker would have to contact the individual contributors and get new permissions. Did he do that? I make a guess that he did not. It is not clear from what is stated here.
  - vessenes 1y ago
    Yep he did, according to the top comment
slightwinder 1y ago
It's free to read, not free to use. As it's from one of the involved authors, they probably got permission for this release. The problem with piracy is lack of permission/consent, not the act itself. People are making books freely available all the time, even those they sell on other platforms. Nothing wrong with this.
debo_ 1y ago
The 'punk' in cyberpunk is intended to be punk.

michaelbuckbee 1y ago

It's hosted on one of the author's sites. The collection itself is (as far as I can tell) out of print. It's falling through the cracks of "too complicated for a publisher to figure the rights out of" and "not lucrative enough for anyone to care".

wat10000 1y ago
It’s possible that it’s being distributed with permission of the copyright holders. Given the number of different people involved that seems kind of unlikely, but “free” doesn’t have to imply a permissive license.
- mindcrime 1y ago
  I think it's normal for the publisher to hold those rights (perhaps shared with the original authors, depending on the details of their agreements), so possibly all that would have been required here would be for the publisher to approve doing this. Or maybe Rucker and all of the other authors are friends, and keep in touch, and he just literally called all of the up and said "Hey, can I post Mirrorshades online for posterity?" and they all agreed. Who knows?
Filligree 1y ago
But it’s a published work. I wouldn’t expect the author to have rights to post it.
- mindcrime 1y ago
  Not by default, no. But it seems entirely reasonable that he may have approached the original publisher, requested permission to post this, and received said permission. Considering that the print book has been out of print for some time, and given that the linked page does emphasize the copyright status of the works, this feels like the most likely scenario to me.
  - jll29 1y ago
    It would have been a good idea to add a note saying "republished here by permission of all copyright holders".

specproc 1y ago

He drew hard on his cigarette. Annoyance flickered across his face, like an artefact in the poorly-compressed bootleg movies he sold to his fellow low-lifes at The Pig and Drum. Some Corpo-type, no doubt. Can't help seeing something good scroll across their feed tube without calling Legal. He'd worked with a few in the past. Not bad all-in-all, at least they paid on time. That said, he could think of few he'd drink with. He toyed with the idea of leaving a bitchy comment. Probably get downvoted to oblivion. The dogs in the yard barked at a passing vehicle. Irritated by the animal noise and the corpo whining, he thrashed something out. Pulling another cigarette from his pack, he hit "reply".

charlieglass 1y ago
I gigglesnorted.
mindcrime 1y ago
The Pig and Drum. Please tell me that is a real place! :=)
- specproc 1y ago
  It was.
Michelangelo11 1y ago
> Some Corpo-type, no doubt. The opposite. Consider Harlan Ellison's views on piracy: "If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump."
- aidenn0 1y ago
  Harlan Ellison was an asshole though.
  - Michelangelo11 1y ago
    I wouldn't describe him that way but, at any rate, his point is right: pirating books is taking money out of authors' pockets. Corporations (publishers?) aren't hit hardest and don't care the most about it. You may prefer the same point expressed in less colorful language by Ursula K. LeGuin, from the same article as Ellison's quote: “I thought, who do these people think they are? Why do they think they can violate my copyright and get away with it?” https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12digital.html https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12dig... Now, as we found out in the meantime from Rudy Rucker's comment, this anthology isn't pirated after all. If you put up your work for free, there's no piracy.

dfxm12 1y ago

Consider the popular cliche, "free as in beer vs free as in speech". The rights copyright gives you, briefly, includes: copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work. What suggests there is piracy is going on?

Finnucane 1y ago
In 1986, it was unlikely that the original contract for the book mentioned anything about electronic rights. As it was a reprint anthology, the rights purchased would have only covered the use in the anthology as long as it was in print. Which means that to post the book online, Rucker would have to contact the individual contributors and get new permissions. Did he do that? I make a guess that he did not. It is not clear from what is stated here.
- vessenes 1y ago
  Yep he did, according to the top comment

slightwinder 1y ago

It's free to read, not free to use. As it's from one of the involved authors, they probably got permission for this release. The problem with piracy is lack of permission/consent, not the act itself. People are making books freely available all the time, even those they sell on other platforms. Nothing wrong with this.

debo_ 1y ago

The 'punk' in cyberpunk is intended to be punk.