World Book & Copyright Day 2015!

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How many of you knew that April 23rd is the official day of the annual event: World Book & Copyright Day?

I haven’t participated in it “officially” for at least… three years (Damn! That long????) but my heart is still behind it and its mission. I usually choose the day to talk about the importance of books and copyright, but… I had a tour yesterday which was unavoidable, so… today I’ll give the talk instead.

So — picture this! A world where… books belong to no one. Not even the ones who created them.

Picture this: A world where authors aren’t paid for the works they put their hearts and souls into, that they slaved over for hours and hours… days and months and YEARS.

Imagine a world where no laws protected author, publisher, book, or reader. Where anyone could claim a book was theirs, or distribute it however which way they pleased, or deface it, plagiarize it, rewrite it, destroy it, because… well… who would be able to contradict it? How could you make a claim in court about theft when there were no laws applying to it?

Imagine, authors… growing weary of such a world.

Imagine publishers… booksellers… making no money from their publications and shutting down en masse. Disappearing off the face of the planet. (They are part of the corporate world, after all. They need to make money in order to survive.)

So. Imagine.

Imagine authors no longer writing.

Imagine BOOKS NO LONGER BEING PUBLISHED OR RELEASED. ANYWHERE.

….

Have I scared you shit-less, yet?

This is what a world without copyright… without protection for book, author, publisher, and YOU, would be like.

Scary, isn’t it?

Until a truly ideal and downright utopian world springs up from the ashes of our current reality, copyright laws will ALWAYS BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU COULD ASK FOR.