Iâm familiar with the assertion that âProperty is Theftâ. Hadnât heard of anybody who was against prosperity (though itâs been tempting to start an âAmericans Against Prosperityâ organization just as a snarky comment on the slimy âAmericans For Prosperityâ foundation that lobbies for prosperity for members of the Koch family.)
Iâve seen the same charges of hypocrisy made every time the Bertold Brecht estate (or any of Brechtâs translators) slaps a cease & desist letter on an unlicensed production of Three Penny Opera.
In the U.K., copyright is extended 70 years after first publication or the death of the author-- which in this case, would be the translators and editors involved in this particular edition of the work. Just because Lawrence & Wisehart are communists, doesnât mean they shouldnât assert their rights under the laws of a capitalist society. Should communists refuse to file charges when they have been robbed or assaulted?
Otherwise, itâs just becomes: âOh, you are (or your grandparents were) socialists? Good, that means we can rip you off!â
God, I hate that smug technocrat attitude. When a site like Boingboing gives me a link I expect it to be safe. Thanks for letting me know I was stupid to assume so.
I only needed to restore my system and run two system scans to fix the problem.
Are you under the impression that communists think robbery and assault should be legal?
I am under no such impression. However, Scott McLemee, who is quoted in the article, speaking on behalf of Marxists.org, appears to be under said impression.
I have noticed in the past, that this is a common reaction amongst socialists and communists when they are found to be in violation of the copyrights held by other socialists and communists. I happen to think it a ridiculous argument.
If I sound like Iâm a smug technocrat the Iâm sorry. I was just hoping that you handnât run one of the files and you had only got a warning from a virus scan.
Whilst Lawrence and Wishart have the copyright to the collected works and translations, some original english language parts are well out of copyright. As both marxists.org and L&W are presumably unwilling participants in capitalism and view the message of Marx and Engles more important than profits, one possibility could have been that marxists.org keeps the public domain articles along with a note saying it is from MECW and refers the reader to somewhere where they could buy the volume where it had come from.
No-one wins with the current situation, it is being handled badly by both sides. I donât know who though it was a good idea to have them taken down on May Day, of all days (Iâm not ruling out marxists.org from having decided this).
Yes, and in fact there are free translations (or even just re-typings of older translations) available of many of the volumes on Amazon (Kindle format) for free. Applies to many other classics as well.
