copyright issues

[Rodney w bowcock jr.]

in many ways i do agree with Harry's comments regarding copyrights.  it
*does* keep people from buying the original product in many cases, but
(do i see shades of Napster here?) something that Harry, and many others
might not realize, is that comics are a dying field in the USA.  Kids
simply don't read them anymore.  At my local comic shop kids come in,
stand at the counter to buy their Pokemon cards and run out, without
noticing the big white boxes throughout the store.  They simply don't
realize what they're missing.  

Just like how many music groups don't mind their stuff being on Napster
because it turns people onto music that they may not hear if they had to
pay for it, I view downloading of Barks and Rosa stories the same way. 
If 1 person, who has never read Barks or Rosa before gets the chance to
do so because of a story on the internet, it was for a good cause.  

Yes it is a copyright violation but there is no way that Disney could
ever keep track of all of the downloaded stories on the web.  We need to
keep in mind that we are *not* stealing from Barks or Rosa, or even
Gladstone for that matter, (because backissues sold in comic shops have
already been bought by the comic shop).  So who are we stealing from? 
certainly not Disney.  they have obviously no plans to do anything with
these stories in this country.  not the comic shops.  if anything i'd
think they'd be grateful that now there might be some kids who would buy
up those stacks of Uncle Scrooge comics that have been filling up space
for 10 years. I have the original stories and would much rather read them
on paper than on my monitor screen, but if I didn't have them, I would
read them and then run out and buy them. 

So what's my point?  Doing this hurts no one, and has the potential to
help millions.  While I question whether this should be encouraged, I
also question whether we should be discouraging this...........
 
Rodney Bowcock


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