The Interpretation of Copyright Laws
I'm trying to find out if you feel the anticipated triumph of your love over hatred means the people who are defending the legality and ethics of copyright law represent the hatred side of your dichotomy, which would suggest that you might actually think that what you are doing is clearly legal and ethical. If this is so, do you welcome a resolution through the legal system, or is that system part of the hatred side as well?
Sure, I'll be more than happy to explain. First off, I'd like to thank you guys for being so civilized in your responses. It is necessary for people to disagree on issues, that's how the human race accumulates knowledge.
As for my take on copyright laws, I'd like to clarify first of all that I have been trying to do my best to abide by them. This is the reason I issued refunds to every single one of the people who preordered my novel on eBay.
I did this even though some of them didn't want a refund and were willing to wait until September to receive the novel. I still went ahead and refunded their money even though some of them ignored my request to cancel the transaction.
By publishing the fanfic for free on my site, I am trying to demonstrate that I do consider myself to be just another fanfic writer. Given that Stephenie Meyer allows her fans to publish fanfics/fanarts online, I am operating within what is acceptable to her and her publisher.
My conscience is clear because I haven't made a penny from this endeavor, not even from click conversions to my affiliates, as no one ever clicks on my ads. So my question is, how is this any different from publishing my novel as a paperback?
My publishing company is the one financing the project entirely, and I plan on giving away every single copy I print for free. How does this differ from publishing online for free? If anything, publishing 50 copies of the book will reach a much smaller audience than it will if published online.
So why is the idea so unsettling? If SMeyer & LB have no problem with fanfics being published online, why should they have a problem with fanfics being published as books? As long as the project is being financed privately without being sold, my conscience is clear.
As for the love/hate dichotomy, what I mean is that I have love for all my fellow human beings because I believe that we are all connected in the great circle of life. I have learned the hard way that I must never hold grudges, let alone try to retaliate for whatever aggression (physical or verbal) that is directed against me.
Please don't think that I'm trying to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. As I said in my previous post, all the criticism and ridicule that I've endured for writing Russet Noon has completely destroyed my self-importance. It has humbled me, and I've grown as a person as a result of this.
My letter to Stephenie was sincere. I do love her characters and have a great admiration for her as a writer. Sure, her work might not be part of the literary canon right now, but 100 years from now, who knows? After all, literary icons like Jane Austen and Mary Shelley were the equivalent of pop-culture writers back when their work was first published.
What I refer to as hatred is when people judge others like they themselves are perfect. It's fine to express your opinion and criticize, but why try to shut down my website? Why start a petition to stop me from giving away a few copies of a self-published novel? That's what I refer to as hatred.
Why not let SMeyer and Little, Brown deal with this matter themselves if it's such a scandalous crime? Has it occured to you that maybe they don't "give a rat's ass" about me or my novel, and that's why they're ignoring the whole issue?
Believe me, they have plenty of legal resources to come after me. I'm just a bug they can crush in one second if they really wanted to. But the reason they're not bothering with me is because they know I'm harmless. And, above all, they'd end up losing a lot of money in legal fees just to find out that I'm not even employed full time and own no properties whatsoever. So then the only thing they can do is either throw me in jail or attach my working-class wages.
And guess what's going to happen if they throw me in jail??? First of all, I'm going to keep writing, then giving my associates my work so they can publish it. Prisoners are allowed to write books in jail. That's something no one can take from me. I will write even if it's from a jail cell, I will write and nobody can stop me from doing it. And don't even get me started on the massive amount of publicity my book would receive if giants like SMeyer and Little, Brown were to sue me.
Heck, just look at what happens when a rapper gets arrested. They wind up selling a lot more records! Why? Because the public loves scandals. It's the good ol' principle of reverse psychology. Tell them not to read a book, and that's precisely the first thing they're going to do just because humans are instinctually attracted to anything taboo.
So my love/hate dichotomy applies to those who feel compelled to enforce THEIR OWN interpretation of copyright laws. Laws are there to be interpreted by judges and attorneys. Let
them handle it and please chillax. Enjoy your life and give love to attract love from your environment.
Legality and ethics are subjective. Each person has their own moral code. That's why Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. got arrested. That's why black African Americans and females once had to protest against laws that kept them from voting. Laws are flawed because humans are flawed. If this weren't true, there wouldn't be a need for Congress.
Laws are in a constant state of flux. That's why Obama is president today. Laws are constantly changed and revised based on how the world evolves. The collective perception is constantly changing. What we view as "wrong" today can become the complete opposite ten years from now.
I hope this explained my love/hate dichotomy. To conclude, I'd like to ask y'all to love and tolerate. Don't be so quick to point out other people's flaws and pay more attention to fixing your own flaws. No human is perfect.
Instead of wasting so much of your valuable time and energy trying to condemn my novel and my interpretation of copyright laws, maybe go for a walk out in nature and dwell in thoughts that make you happy.
Let SMeyer and Little, Brown handle this matter, and focus your energy on writing the next bestseller. I promise I won't be writing any fanfics about your novels.