Moving Beyond Copyright (Blog)

[Ingenius]

@Steve: This morning I noticed someone had taken a 2000 words article that I wrote last week and copied-pasted it straight away to his own blog. I asked myself what were the options, since I didn't know how to behave. Now I check my RSS feed and your article pops up. How's that as a synchronicity?

Maybe subjectiveness is catching us all... being "all" just myself... who kows?

Cheers,

Daniel.

[knittybliss]

Gary Craig, the founder of EFT has spent a lot of time and energy giving away his material. He has encountered problems mostly with people diluting the material with their own (less inspired) ideas and therefore reducing the value of it. He would be a good person to have a conversation with.

I feel that some of the (enormous) value of what you've done with the website is the whole mass of it, and the interconnections between different topics. It is also really amazing to read the blog and see your spiritual growth over time, how your concerns change, etc. Reading only one article, although valuable, removes it from the context that really makes it go deeply into consciousness.

It would be cool to design a way somehow, so that whenever people use your material, that they do it in such a way that it remains connected to your network. That way anyone who reads your stuff anywhere will also be led down the rabbit hole!

Constance

[joylangtry]

Regarding duplication of effort in translations:

What if your work becomes like Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching and multiple diverse translations inspire study, comparison and further inspiration?

Let it go.

[Angela]

That's a lovely way to go.

I'm surprised that Bob Proctor operates that way, hiring ghost writers rather than writing their own stuff, not paying for "borrowed" material, etc..... it has me wondering what other prominent PD people, like the folks in the group you meet with periodically, have similar practices.

[Miss D]

Hi Steve and everybody else on the forum .

I am new here and also relatively new to the site, which I discovered at the beginning of June while looking for blogs about Juice Feasting. I would like to say thanks to Steve: the first days I was reading the blog I had incredible insights into lots of things and some particular aspects of my life.

I have been reading the last post about copyright with a lot of interest because I have recently started a blog where one of the goals is to spread in my country (Italy) ideas and theories that never arrive there because of the language barrier, so the fact that you would give permission to translate your articles really makes me happy.

I am no expert in the Internet and computer, so I cannot give any interesting contribution on how to proceed with that, but I am a professional translator (English into Italian) and I feel that people tend to underestimate the difficulty of translation, while sometimes the misunderstanding of one single word disrupts the whole message. Botton line: however you decide to do it, I think there should be proofreaders and coordinators for the different languages, unless you choose to leave your content completely free, without even your name on it, in which case you wouldn't mind about what is being written.

[Mike0149]

... I can’t really say that I’m the one creating all this content. It flows through me so effortlessly that I don’t really know where it’s coming from. ... I’m basically a pen. I let the dreamer communicate through me.

How can I possibly blame Bob or his ghostwriter or anyone else who’s tried to pass of my material as their own? If I do that, I’d just be projecting my own issues onto them. I cannot solve this problem at that level. I could try of course, but what would that “solution” look like? Send Bob some nasty letters maybe. Get an attorney involved.

That's what attorneys are there for. You choose the attorney who you instruct. They're not all nasty - not even in the States ... joke

Succumb to negative emotions like blame and resentment. Disconnect from who I really am.

Hang on. Where does this idea come from that all these negative emotions are necessarily bound up with taking legal action? Hint: not from me.

In the end, I’d only be fighting with myself, and I’d be injecting more conflict and negative drama into this dream world. That is not an intelligent solution.

Hang on ... <repeat!>

Then leave out the negativity and drama. And see it more as assertiveness rather than vindictiveness. After all, the Universe choose you to manifest this material through, so (as you say yourself somewhere) you are the steward of it. What sort of stewardship is it to allow the gift of the Universe to be diluted (as knittybliss mentions above, has happened with the EFT material) and promulgated in second-rate form to the detriment of those who come across the uninspired, indeed (from the Universe's point of view) tainted, second-rate derivative?

Isn't the Universe expecting you to do what you reasonably can to maintain the integrity and quality in the public domain of the material with which it entrusted you? It's your call (but again, as steward on behalf of the Universe) as to the vigour of the legal action, the choice between requiring attribution, seeking prohibitive injunctions, and financial recompense. And, to the extent that you do get financial recompense, perhaps you're the steward of that as well. You don't need me to suggest ideas as to how that financial recompense could be redeployed for the benefit of wider humanity, rather than resting in the pocket of a passive plagiariser who has not only contributed nothing but actually subtracted value by diluting your material.

The best content, the stuff that makes people freak out the most, flows through me, but it is not of me.

But you are the steward of it, on behalf of the Universe. Are you going to step up to the plate and be respectful to the Universe for choosing you to manifest it, or are you going to allow it to be treated as so much ****, for every man and dog to mix with their own ****, while you stand idly by?

Edit: to correct my attribution of comment on 'dilution' of EFT material

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Mike0149

But you are the steward of it, on behalf of the Universe. Are you going to step up to the plate and be respectful to the Universe for choosing you to manifest it, or are you going to allow it to be treated as so much ****, for everty man and dog to mix with their own ****, while you stand idly by?

You know, people often say, "Money is the root of all evil," even though the original quote is "The love of money is the root of all evil," a significant alteration of meaning -- one might say, people have treated the material as so much ****. And somehow, the original meaning has survived intact, too.

[DonnaBiz]

I stopped reading for a while...took a little break while the dust settled on the whole "Where's the content" thing was going on.
Now what's happening is really juicy again.

I'm a long-time Abraham follower. They always have been quite free with their information. They do request acknowlegement, though. But I don't believe anyone follows up with checking on that. Otherwise they would probably "own" Law of Attraction!

Also, one of the big Abe phrases is "Taking thought beyond where it has been..." (sounds rather trekkie, no?). So, if we're all just chanelling the One Dreamer, I think the whole point is to share the next new thought and follow it to where it leads to the next new thought. It can't be controlled anyway, really!

Getting the next new thought is GROWTH.

Now that you're come to the conclusion to put it all out there freely, I'm sure the best way will come to you in an inspired flash. You'll recognize it and it will work perfectly.

This from Mike Dooley today:

You be me,
I be you.
They be us.
We be them.
All is one.
Love is all.

[beautyscientist]

Steve,

I love your work. I have been reading it since the number of blog posts was in single figures. It has been a continual inspiration and full of surprises.

But you really have gone too far now. We don't live in a dream world. I am not a figment of your imagination. You have written this stuff - it didn't write itself.

It might well be that technology will soon make the enforcement of copyright impossible for everyone and the current professional media might shortly be replaced with a sort of digital version of a folk tradition where nobody gets paid for creating content.

In which case, getting ahead of the game and working out how to make a living when paywalls and gatekeepers are a thing of the past might turn out to be a smart move.

Who knows? I am sure I don't.

But get a grip! You already give away a ton of value. Surely you need to keep some kind of income. I'd hate to see you having to get a job.

[ahimel]

I'd like to add another vote for the Creative Commons. (Choose a License). I'm sure you open-sourced or shareware'd some of your video games -- why not your personal development articles?

My take on commercial use of my writing is that if someone can modify my work in some way, and make millions off of it, good for them. (It would have to be modified in some way... distribution or packaging at least...or I'd be making millions off of it now.)

It's not like I can't write more content... there's lots more where that came from. And I think most people, if they took someone else's work and made money off of it, would voluntarily choose to give some of that money back to the original creator.

The copyright-non-commercial-use concept comes from a scarcity mindset that says "There's only so much money to be milked out of this, and I get it all!" Is that how you feel the universe works?

I suspect that anyone who can read your content on this blog is already doing so... the translation/distribution efforts can only serve to get your content in the hands of a bigger, newer audience. You said that providing value causes the universe to compensate you. You said that getting your value in the hands of as many people as possible can only increase your income. Is that how you feel the universe works?

Once you're clear on the metaphysics, the decision about copyright will be easy.

[Divajules]

Originally Posted by beautyscientist

But you really have gone too far now. We don't live in a dream world. I am not a figment of your imagination. You have written this stuff - it didn't write itself.

But get a grip!

LMFAO!! That really cracked me up.

[munish]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

The part I'm most unsure about is whether it's wisest to try to host and coordinate translation efforts in a centralized manner. That seems good for quality control, but I wouldn't want to manage that myself.

Perhaps some sort of hybrid solution could work, with some centralized management handled by volunteers and good autonomy for those with creative ideas to pursue.

I think volunteers can help you translating your work into different languages.

You can have volunteers in Europe , Asia and other parts of the world.

You can also form a trust/foundation headed by you that can take care of translation activities.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by beautyscientist

You have written this stuff - it didn't write itself.

My experience of writing is that, when it's occurring for me as most valuable (likely to make or have made the most positive difference) it DOES write itself.

All I do is put my fingers on the keyboard (or put pen to paper) and let go.

[codefreeze]

If you really want to let the content "go wild" then just public domain/freeware it. Otherwise Creative Commons should do the trick.

Not sure about anyone else, but I've been finding these recent posts of Steve's unsettling. Can't really explain it. It's not a sinister feeling. Is reality shifting? It just feels odd. Anyone else feel it?

[Angela]

Codefreeze, yes; fun isn't it?

And may I say that you are a total cutie?

[ssandra]

Suggestion:

"Hire" someone to do an overall coordination on your work.

From anyone, and everyone who uses your work, you ask in return 10% of their income (honor system, which seems most logical in an SR setting).

To the person you "hire" you give 5% of those 10% + the ability to communicate with you, and discuss with you, especially in the beginning, regarding the best course of action.

This way you will continue to receive appreciation (money) for the work you are doing (translating and interpreting ) and others can receive appreciation for the work they are doing (translating or using these words in other forms).

You will not have to do anything, except have a talk once a week with your designated coordinator, and yet will continue to receive appreciation.

The person who gets to be the coordinator will also receive appreciation for their time and effort into making things flow as smoothly as possible.

I'd also suggest that all content that is used in any other way would be attributed to you, simply because that makes most sense.

You are attributing to the Dreamer, so other will attribute to you, and via you, to the Dreamer.

[Karusan]

Hi Steve,

You might want to check the work of Cory Doctorow (Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com News). You might have heard of him. He's a fictional writer and editor of Boing Boing. I find that his approach towards copyrights and distribution makes a lotta' sense.

Cheers!

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Angela

That's a lovely way to go.

I'm surprised that Bob Proctor operates that way, hiring ghost writers rather than writing their own stuff, not paying for "borrowed" material, etc..... it has me wondering what other prominent PD people, like the folks in the group you meet with periodically, have similar practices.

My thoughts exactly.

I have not read any of Proctor's books. I started following him on Twitter and was impressed by some of his tweets. Makes you wonder about other big guys.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by codefreeze

If you really want to let the content "go wild" then just public domain/freeware it. Otherwise Creative Commons should do the trick.

Not sure about anyone else, but I've been finding these recent posts of Steve's unsettling. Can't really explain it. It's not a sinister feeling. Is reality shifting? It just feels odd. Anyone else feel it?

Yes, me too. And I have become more watchful as of late.

[James81]

I don't know what you should do, but I just wanted to say that it's highly ironic that someone named Bob Proctor has ghostwriters and "borrows" other people's work.

[Xtal]

I know you mentioned it in your article and people have mentioned it here, but I felt a strong urge to suggest a Creative Commons license.

Choose a License

Best of luck, Steve!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by James81

I don't know what you should do, but I just wanted to say that it's highly ironic that someone named Bob Proctor has ghostwriters and "borrows" other people's work.

Do you mean in the sense of a proctor being someone who watches over students to make sure they're not cheating?

Or do you mean more in the "taking it in the hindquarters" sense of proctology?

They both sort of apply, don't they?

[Andrew Brunelle]

This is a tough one. How could you feasibly do this? I would suggest waiting until this inspiration trial is over with before you do anything definitively. You should think through what you could do to make this happen. Research many options before you come to a conclusion. Creative Commons seems good, but I'm not sure how they actually work. I have it on my site and they haven't really been present. But then again, I'm not aware of my material being stolen.

It makes sense intuitively to let go of copyright, and you are earning a great income already, so there's really no worries for you, but what are the long-term consequences of doing this?

[jayh]

Will this include all your online material, including the articles you wrote in your "programmer period"? Are they even still online? I'd love to read them. I just saw an article that Apple will now be allowing "try before you buy" apps, which made me think of shareware, which made me think of this...

[cylon]

To be totally truthful, I have to confess that I’m in the same boat, trying to pass off the dreamer’s content as my own. I’ve been doing that for years.

And there's the difference between subjective reality and solipsism. You aren't creating anything, you aren't even real. Only the "dreamer" is real. This actually makes things complicated for the ego because the part of us that wants to feel separate really needs to see the world in terms of "greater than" or "less than." So if you are not feeling compassion for another, you are not compassionate towards yourself. And if you are accepting of another, you are accepting of yourself. Including accepting Bob "The Ghostwritten" Proctor. I'm actually surprised, I always kind of liked that guy.

And that's why this is where it gets hard to make judgments-- because judgments are based in the idea of separateness. Which makes the question of what to do with your content's copyright interesting. If it's really an SR experience, I guess the answer would be "either way it doesn't matter what you do. As long as it feels right, do whatever" and "whatever" will work out in the end.

But if there is separateness, then suddenly you need to protect "yours" from theirs" and from a subjective reality standpoint, that entire equation is nonsensical.

My initial gut reaction was that if you allow people to freely distribute your work, that's fine, as long as they attribute you as the author. Where my alarm bells went off is when you asked if its ok for others to profit off your work. I'd have to say, that doesn't sound right to me. You spend a lot of time telling people to contribute and then they will be rewarded, here you're almost implying the desire to be rewarded is insignificant.

And the funny thing is in a SR view, it IS insignificant. It's your reality, the answer is whatever you want it to be, and the results will be as good or bad as you expect.

So just do whatever, and as long as it feels right, the universe will have no choice but to have it work out for you.

Glad to be of help.

[Mike DeWitt]

Steve,

I have used Creative Commons licenses on my blog and have uploaded stuff to the Internet Archive with the same.

One of my favorite authors and thinkers, David Maister, once told me that he gave out his best ideas for free, because people always wanted to pay him to help them implement them in their own environment. That resonated with me. Hope it helps my projection of you! :-)

(your projection of) Mike

[Asmoday]

I would flat out slay Bob Proctor.

Slowly.

He wouldn't be hard to catch. The old tired hack probably can't run very fast.

I'm calling for a Proctor boycott -- anyone with me?

[cylon]

Was it actually Bob Proctor in the Secret or was that a Ghost Actor?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Asmoday

I would flat out slay Bob Proctor.

Slowly.

He wouldn't be hard to catch. The old tired hack probably can't run very fast.

I'm calling for a Proctor boycott -- anyone with me?

How about if we catch him and hug him instead, brother dear? <3

So funny how you're like my doppleganger with the reverse polarity.

[Maria O]

You know, Steve, I'm probably the 1000th person to say this, but I just LOVE reading your updates on the trial. You've been making me cry! Not in a sad way of course, it's just an emotional reaction you get when something you read resonates deeply with you. I'm just immensely grateful to have you share this experience with us.