Following my last post, I began to wonder if, after all, I hadn’t overdone it. But I soon received a number of emails approving of my copyright ‘polemic’, ‘evisceration’, ‘logical deconstruction’, as they called it. From details in these emails, I surmise that their authors did not want to commit themselves to a Comment for fear of the copyright police!
All of these correspondents are themselves writers. Their gist is that they want a copyright law that is rational. For instance, that limits copyright in both published and unpublished works to 70 years after the death of their author and also makes permission obligatory only when a writer wants to quote more than 50 words. I agree. Last night I received permission by email from an American archive to publish 38 words from a letter of George’s that they physically possess, but do not own the copyright in. This took me a number of emails, completion and signature of a form, and despatch to the U.S., to negotiate, plus…a commitment to send them a copy of my book, which they have reminded me about in their permission. This is grasping, exorbitant and ridiculous. I had to sign that I would do it, but I would actually like to know what basis in law an archive has for insisting you have to ask their permission to publish when they don’t own the copyright. It is civilised and polite to acknowledge the archive that owns an item, of course, and I would always want to do it, but I am tempted to say that they have no right to demand we ask them for permission to publish. If the copyright-owner gives their permission, I think the person who conserves the item has no further claim.
No, on reflection I don’t feel I have overdone it in attacking this law. The fundamental tenet of authoritarian empires and totalitarian societies has always been everything is forbidden that is not permitted and that is the principle this U.K./E.U. copyright law enshrines. It is a devastating comment on the people who framed it. I for one cannot contemplate going this way again. Either the law on unpublished manuscripts changes or I shall observe only my own rules based on rational, libertarian principles.
One of my e-correspondents has written to his M.P. drawing attention to my post.
He’s written to his MP? Excellent idea! Our legislators are surely at a loose end just now…
I agree entirely with your irony (note that I have not written myself), but I admire his principle and proactivity! Might the EU Directive part of the chimaera fall away with Brexit?