Thursday, July 5, 2012

Let The Crazy Train Pass You By



Publisher's Weekly just posted an article about the potential danger of libraries no longer being able to lend books to the public.  WHAT???  Here is the link to the article:



If I'm understanding the article correctly, the Supreme Court is trying to decide if libraries have the right to lend e-books and other books to their patrons.  Now they are taking things one step farther and thinking about making it illegal to lend any "foreign" published books within the United States as it might infringe on someone's copyrights.  Would the same apply to US published books no longer being allowed to stock the shelves in the libraries of other countries?  Again I say...WHAT???

How is it even possible that there are people sitting around debating this issue?  When did we board the CRAZY TRAIN???

I could be completely off base, but I thought libraries purchased the books they stocked their shelves with?  And all John Q. Public needed to do to have access to said books was to apply for a library card.  Following this line of logic, the original author received fair compensation for their work and what the library chooses to do with the book after the purchase is their business.  And when you consider the ever increasing number of struggling readers and rising illiteracy around the world, in my mind ANYTHING which encourages someone to read is a GOOD THING!

Think about it.  We might never have been able to pick up a copy of A Christmas Carol from the local library when we were children because Dickens lived on the wrong side of the pond.  And as for  reading the Harry Potter books?  Forget about it!  Where will the CRAZY TRAIN stop?  Will I have to wonder if the book police will handcuff me should I choose to read a book purchased from one of my Australian friends just because I didn't ask permission first?  Or maybe we just need to go back to the caveman days and do away with books all together.  We can gather around the one storyteller in the village that can remember it all and hope WE won't forget ourselves!

I know that is a bit extreme, but it's as silly to me as the Supreme Court having to spend their precious time deciding a case like this.  Don't they have better things to do? 

Hey, I have an idea!  How about some people not being greedy to the inth degree and spoiling it for the rest of us?  How about some people acting like adults, even when they write for children, and thinking about the greater appeal of seeing their books in the hands of the intended audience in the first place without trying to nickle and dime the public to death? 

I know I'm not a published author, so maybe some people would think I have no write to speak, but I DO have a right to my opinion and I have an overwhelming LOVE for books in all forms.  I simply don't understand the whole idea of having to fight for the right to pick up a "foreign" published  book from the library as compared to a "homegrown" one.  For myself, I am going to let the CRAZY TRAIN pass me by and I hope others will do the same...









28 comments:

  1. I cannot even imagine the insanity of that?????

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    1. Hi Carole and welcome to my blog! I can only hope there is some logic behind this that I'm not seeing, but again, I'm not expert in the matter.

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  2. If you have read Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or seen Truffaut's cinema version of the story, then you know what could become of books if the Supreme Court makes the WRONG decision. Crazy Train indeed!

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    1. Janet, I actually thought of Fahrenheit 451 when I was reading this article. I guess I must live in a fantasy world where people get along and there isn't a law against reading a book...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  3. I like the title of your post! Could be applied to all kinds of crazy trains running everywhere. Now to go read that article. Thanks for the link. Weird stuff!

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    1. Hi Karen! I agree that the CRAZY TRAIN doesn't just stop for people who have issues with books but for many other things as well. I hope they get things straightened out soon and there isn't too much damage done in the long term...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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    1. Hi Alison! Pretty much the same response I had when I first read it...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  5. I recently tried to borrow a book from the library on suicide but they wouldn't let me have it. They said I wouldn't take it back :(

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    1. Awww, JP, you make me laugh at the oddest times...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  6. This is the silliest thing I've heard all week! Hopefully sense will prevail.

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    1. Hi Annalisa! I agree. I don't understand it and I consider myself to be pretty smart so I need someone smarter than myself to explain the logic behind this...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  7. *headdesk* So if and when I get published, you guys aint gonna know or read it, unless of course you buy it off amazon! Crazy!

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    1. Oh, Diane, I WILL know about it because I will be first in line to buy it! ;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  8. These days most people go to libraries to rent movies and use the computers anyway so it probably wouldn't affect most people very much.

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    1. You may be right, PT, but I would like to think more people would actually care. Yes, at my local library there are people at the computers because they can't afford one of their own and there are people who are there just for the movies but I spend quite a bit of time at many branches in my area and I would say that reading is very much still alive at the libraries in MY city...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  9. THIS IS INSANE! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ARE DOING THIS! WE WRITERS AND WRITERS-TO-BE MUST SPEAK UP!!!!! I'm telling my parents about this RIGHT NOW!!!!!! >:-(

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    1. Hi Erik! I agree, it doesn't sound crazy and I don't understand the legal side of things enough to maybe make the best informed decision about things. But from what I am reading, it still sounds nuts to me!

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  10. It's definitely a crazy train that I don't want to board. Thanks for informing us on this.

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    1. Hi Carol and welcome to my blog! I was just shocked by the implications of this possible decision and thought others might not have seen the article.

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  11. We are in the "regulate everything era" and it is not good!

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    1. I agree! I'm all for rules and regulations but not when they cross the line into crazy in my humble opinion...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  12. Oh no! Here in England the powers that be tend to follow whatever happens in America - NOT this time, I hope! I AM a published PB writer and am more than happy with any tiny amount of PLR pay I receive. Quite frankly, I wouldn't care if I didn't get any. I'm with you on this Donna - I want books to get out to everyone and libraries are a great place for that to happen. We are so often fighting closure of libraries here, this is just ridiculous. May common sense prevail!

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    1. I hope that as well. It just doesn't make much sense to me and I can't find anyone to explain it logically to me either...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  13. Well, since I'm out of country right now, this sounds awful to me! I love when I find English children's books!! I hope it's changed.

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  14. Hi Tina! It just blows my mind that this is even a possibility. It's not like librarians are standing in line in some back alley waiting to purchase foreign books from the black market! They purchase their inventory through legitimate sources so the author receives proper compensation but the people who are suing are saying its copyright infringement. It all comes down to the money NOT the readers...

    Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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