Miracle Jones - Slashdot User

Submission + - Le Guin Quits Authors Guild Over Google Settlement

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Thursday December 24, 2009 @07:04AM

Miracle Jones writes: "Ursula Le Guin — one of the most well-respected writers of fiction on planet Earth (five Hugo awards, six Nebula awards, and one National Book Award) — has resigned from the Authors Guild as a result of the Google Book Settlement: "You decided to deal with the devil, as it were, and have presented your arguments for doing so. I wish I could accept them. I can't. There are principles involved, above all the whole concept of copyright; and these you have seen fit to abandon to a corporation, on their terms, without a struggle. So, after being a loyal if invisible member for so long, I am resigning from the Guild. I am, however, retaining membership in the National Writers Union and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, both of which opposed the "Google settlement." They don't have your clout, but their judgment, I think, is sounder, and their courage greater.""

Submission + - EMI Sells Apple-Shaped "Seed" of Beatles Songs 1

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Miracle Jones

on Tuesday December 08, 2009 @03:29PM

Miracle Jones writes: "The remaining Beatles and EMI are partnering to release an apple-shaped flash drive full of all their studio songs. "The exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with the critically acclaimed re-mastered audio for The Beatles’ 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs’ visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes." This is the first high profile "Seed" sculpture and answers the question about how you can build and sell artistic information as a creator in the twenty-first century without mucking about with sleazy online distribution systems."

Submission + - Short Stories Published as USB Penis (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Monday November 23, 2009 @11:42AM

Miracle Jones writes: "The collection "Seed" is only available as a provocative digital sculpture. Each of the ten stories on "Seed" is available in every possible ebook format, along with both live and studio audio recordings. Also included on "Seed" is a .pdf bookblock formatted especially for the Espresso Book Machine. All of this information has been crammed into a 2 gig flash drive shaped like a dick, available in many colors. Here's a sample story from the collection and an essay about the concept without any dick pics. The experiment could model a way for other creators to make money on digital content while still getting it out there."

Submission + - How Do You Give an Ebook for Xmas? (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Monday October 05, 2009 @10:18AM

Miracle Jones writes: "One idea is selling books as digital sculptures; as flash drives loaded with expanding content: "When you buy "Seed," you are not just buying an ebook, you are buying every possible electronic and paper version of "Seed." We will include all thirty proprietary formats for ereaders, including simple text files, .epub, and .pdfs. Additionally, we will also include a specially-formatted .pdf that will allow you to print and bind "Seed" at an Espresso Book Machine or any other "on demand" printer as a real, honest-to-God paper book. You will even be able to choose your own cover.""

Comment Here's your solution right here, gang... (Score 1) 350

by Miracle Jones on Sunday October 04, 2009 @03:43PM (#29637455) Attached to: Will Books Be Napsterized?

I've been thinking about this problem for a dog's age, from the perspective of a fiction writer. "Seed" For Sale Get your wallets out! Christmas is coming!

Submission + - Google Books Settlement Goes Back to Beta (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Wednesday September 23, 2009 @03:04AM

Miracle Jones writes: "The Google books settlement has been removed from consideration by Google and the Author's Guild after the DOJ made it crystal clear that the settlement would not be ratified "as is" due to foreign rights, privacy, and antitrust reasons. The October 7th "fairness hearing" has been canceled, and the next step is a November 6th "status hearing" where the plaintiffs will reveal changes to the new settlement, such as how they plan to make the new settlement more fair, legal, and inclusive, and whether or not they will need to notify all the members of the class action lawsuit (7 million writers or so) YET AGAIN as a result of the changes. Some people are very happy about this."

Submission + - U.S. Copyright Office Tears Apart Google Books at (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Friday September 11, 2009 @11:26AM

Miracle Jones writes: "After unsurprising testimony on both sides of the Google book settlement at yesterday's Congressional hearing entitled "Commerce and Competition in Digital Books," the U.S. Copyright Office delivered a three point total attack about why Congress should turn down the settlement, citing the fact that the issue is not a matter for the courts to decide and will assuredly provoke diplomatic hostility with rightsholders abroad. Who will Congress listen to more? If the big money on both sides of this issue cancel each other out, will the U.S.Copyright Office give the deciding analysis?"

Submission + - Congress Holds Google Book Settlement Hearing (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Thursday September 10, 2009 @11:22AM

Miracle Jones writes: "Congress is holding a surprise hearing about the Google book settlement today, calling witnesses from Google, the Author's Guild, Amazon, the National Federation for the Blind, the U.S. Copyright Office, and Consumer Watchdog. No authors or publishers will give testimony before Congress about the settlement. Tuesday was the deadline to raise objections or opt-out of the settlement, and the courts are now deciding whether or not to ratify the settlement's provisions, pending the results of the Justice Department's antitrust investigation. With Congress interested, now all three branches of government are involved in this class action lawsuit."

Submission + - Attorney Files Massive Objection to Google Books (publishersweekly.com)

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Miracle Jones

on Thursday August 20, 2009 @01:41AM

Miracle Jones writes: "Attorney Scott Gant has filed a massive, 50-page objection to the Google books settlement, laying down what Publisher's Weekly has called the "first heavyweight objection." Gant is not only a Harvard-educated class action lawyer: he is also a member of the class of authors that the "Author's Guild" claims to represent. He's the author of "We're All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law in The Internet Age." Gant echoes many of the objections that others have raised to the settlement in the past, but also highlights the fact that the settlement fails to protect the due process rights of absent members of the class, claiming that the settlement is a "predominantly commercial transaction," that "cannot be imposed through the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23." Note to Google: lawyers write books, too."

Submission + - William Morris Comes Out Against Google Settlement (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @07:29PM

Miracle Jones writes: "The William Morris Agency has come out strongly against the Google Book Settlement for its clients, citing the fact that the settlement creates a non-competitive marketplace for a whole new product (orphan books), in addition to containing provisions that will make it impossible for writers to remove books from the database after twenty-seven months have passed: "We believe that the license being given to Google to publish and display with impunity out-of-print "orphan" works (where the rights owner is unknown and estimated by the Financial Times to be between 2.8 and 5 million books out of 32 million books protected by copyright in the United States) will open the door to establishing Google as the most comprehensive database, potentially a monopoly, with unfair bargaining power.""

Submission + - Amazon Sued for Deleting Kid's Homework (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Friday July 31, 2009 @09:49AM

Miracle Jones writes: "Justin D. Gawronski, a 17-year-old-high school student, has filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon for deleting his electronic notes on the novel "1984" when they purged bootleg copies from the Kindle, a novel which he purchased electronically for his summer novel project. Gawronski and his lawyer are also seeking an injunction to keep Amazon from future deletions of purchased electronic property. Should lawsuits force companies into abiding by electronic property protocols, or are there better ways to protect ebooks from the dangers of "the cloud?""

Submission + - Harlan Ellison's Racist Freak-Out Over Mild Joke (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Monday July 27, 2009 @09:35AM

Miracle Jones writes: "After fellow fiction writer K. Tempest Bradford suggested Harlan Ellison was senile in a fake magazine cover for the new "Realms of Fantasy" relaunch, Ellison hit back with this rant, provoking widespread internet outrage, while calling on his fans to attack her: "She has dummied-up a truly insulting mock-cover of REALMS that is intended to be offensive to anyone who values my sixty years' work. Now: watch your step. She is apparently a Woman of Color (which REALLY makes me want to bee-atch-slap her, being the guy who discovered and encouraged one of the finest writers and Women of Color who ever lived, my friend, the recently-deceased Octavia Estelle Butler). And she plays that card endlessly, which is supposed to exorcise anyone suggesting she is a badmouth ignoramus, or even a NWA. Ooooh, did I say that?" Ellison has apologized to the target of his attack, but not for the manner. Not his finest moment."

Submission + - Amazon Apologizes for Deleting Ebooks from Kindles (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Friday July 24, 2009 @06:23AM

Miracle Jones writes: "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has formally apologized to customers for deleting ebooks from people's Kindles: "This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our "solution" to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we've received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission. With deep apology to our customers, Jeff Bezos Founder & CEO Amazon.com""

Submission + - How to Keep Amazon from Deleting eBooks (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by

Miracle Jones

on Tuesday July 21, 2009 @05:30AM

Miracle Jones writes: "We need a revolution in publishing technology, otherwise online bookstores like Amazon (and soon, Google) will have waaaaaaay too much power when it comes to the the ability to modify, control, and delete content. Here's one solution: ebook publishers should start selling ebooks as objects instead of downloads, packing every available edition and format of an ebook (there are 30 or so) onto a flash drive sculpture, in addition to audio files, cartoons, and any other bonus ancillary materials. The object will have value, publishers will profit, and the books will be kept safe."

Submission + - What will physical books in the future look like? (fictioncircus.com) 2

Submitted by

kev-san

on Friday July 17, 2009 @10:37AM

kev-san writes: "The Fiction Circus has posted an article regarding the future of physical books with the increasing market prominence of electronic books. The article discusses the possibility that USB drives embedded in sculptures and art objects might replace what we think of as physical books. How will the shifting world of publishing react to the idea that books might not retain their current physical form? What else will change if books become works of art rather than dust covers that shelter dead trees?"

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