I started to read the Toronto Star article linked to this facebook post, but had to stop before my head exploded. The throw away line that started the fuse burning mentioned the "the so-called “culture of free” that has ravaged the media, music and book worlds." What utter nonsense this is. The music world is doing just fine - wealthy musicians and wealthy recording companies are, well, wealthy. Young musicians are coming to the fore through 'free' exposure of their work on YouTube. The book world is now a place friendlier to authors than to publishers. Good!, I say. This new world has freed authors from the tiny percentage of wholesale prices that writers used to get from legacy publishers. Canny authors offer up free copies of their work which drives sales of those purchased - and in this new world, the writer now gets between 30 and 70% of the retail price per book. Media? I assume the Toronto Star is referring to its own situation. Try working creatively with the new world, rather than Canute-like ordering the tide not to come in.
From a writer's perspective, this is all good.
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