March 13, 2012
Rushdie accuses DOJ of “wanting to destroy the world of books”
by Dennis Johnson
Salman Rushdie has lashed out at the U.S. Department of Justice — although not at terribly great length or depth.
On his Twitter feed on Sunday, Rushdie wrote “Anyone who thinks that fair pricing that allows authors to make a living is a cabal or cartel system is deep in the grip of Napsterism.”
A report on The Guardian gathers his three tweets on the subject, amounting to something not much more perceptive, but a good bit more fiery: “Seems that the US Justice Dept wants to destroy the world of books. Anyone who thinks that fair pricing that allows authors to make a living is a cabal or cartel system is deep in the grip of Napsterism — the belief (fostered by Napster in the music world) that it’s OK to acquire people’s work for almost nothing.”
No word on whether this applies to the EU investigation of the same people for the same thing.
Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.
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One Comment
The “fair pricing” at issue in the DOJ and EU dustups with Apple and the Big Six have very little to do with enabling authors to make a living. The alleged collusion primarily benefits Apple and the publishers, not authors. Under the “agency” model and traditional royalty schemes, only the biggest and best established writers–like Rushdie, whom I deeply admire–have any chance of making a living at their craft. Independent authors, who may be skilled or even gifted writers but can nevertheless find the gates to the traditional publishing pathway closed, benefit far more from a marketplace free of price fixing tailored for the haves.
–Larry Constantine (writing as Lior Samson)