A hornet’s nest of a writer
October 14, 2007
I never cared for Ursula K Le Guin’s writing, and now after this temper-tantrum directed at Cory Doctorow I don’t even feel guilty about it any more. Even if Doctorow still likes her.
Posted in Art and Writing
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October 14th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I’ve got to say, I’m more or less with Le Guin on this one, not merely because I *have* always cared for her writing. I think a lot of this, especially her perceived lack of contrition on Doctorow’s part, is due to little more than missed (or mis-) communication. I believe that Doctorow quoted the piece simply because he enjoyed it, and his explanation of the Creative Commons license makes sense. But the fact remains that there are significant limits to Fair Use — limits that Doctorow does appear to have overstepped — and it’s not inconceivable (or even unlikely) that someone reading his post would misinterpret what was, and was not, covered by that CC license. I don’t think his intent was at all nefarious, and I believe him when he says he didn’t think it was a violation of copyright. But that doesn’t mean Le Guin is overreacting, that it wasn’t a violation of copyright, or that she’s simply losing her temper unnecessarily.
October 14th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I am with Doctorow in the matter of fair use. Anyone who takes something quoted in a CC blog to be also CC does not understand copyright at all.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:45 am
I’ve only read one of Le Guin’s books (back in college); it was an interesting concept but just an okay read. I haven’t been impressed with her attitude towards fan fiction — essentially she doesn’t allow it (and thinks she has the right not to allow it). I contrast her with someone like J.K. Rowling (I’m sure Le Guin fans would probably burst blood vessels from rolling their eyes, but personally I think Rowling’s the better writer, though of course she writes for a different audience) who is not afraid to sic her lawyers on people who deserve it, but generally does so to keep people from profiting illegally and to protect her fans. Le Guin seems to think her fans are the enemy.
October 16th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Okay, so I’ve been reading a little more about this whole dust-up over the past couple of days (especially here at the SFWA’s Livejournal), and there was maybe a little more to it — including some animosity (possibly even vendetta) between Doctorow and Le Guin’s go-between, Andrew Burt, stemming from those fradulent DCMA notices the SFWA sent out a few months back:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/30/science-fiction-writ-1.html
That said, Le Guin wasn’t wrong to think Doctorow’s original post was a violation of her copyright, or to be concerned that some readers would misinterpret the Creative Commons license attached to the post. Indeed, she claims that some publications saw that license and did reprint her writing, assuming they didn’t need her permission.
The question, of course, is, is it Cory Doctorow’s responsibility to explain what is and isn’t covered by the CC license in a given post, or simply to link to it and trust others to figure it out?
The whole thing does appear to have ended amicably enough. Doctorow issued a public apology, and Le Guin accepted. There’s obviously still some quibbles between them about the limits and values of copyright, but I think it’s safely behind us now.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Well she _did_ accept his apology:
“After this letter had been up only a day on my site, Mr Doctorow posted an apology to me on his boingboing.net site. It may be a bit clouded with arguments and self-justification, but apologising is hard, and apologies are rare and valuable. I accept his in all good faith.”
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Note-OpenLetter.html