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I signed one petition, with this comment:
As a publisher, I don't think Lawrence and Wishart should demand removal of
these invaluable archives from MIA or any other entity. These are the works of
Marx and Engels, published a long time ago and now part, as they should be, of
the public domain and, more importantly, the struggle for socialism. To demand
that MIA take these works down after it has been distributing them free for
years is pretty outrageous. If this is the only way the company can stay in
business, it ought to think about closing shop. And to argue that translators
have to be paid out of the money from copyright is disingenuous. My family's
future in terms of health care is tied to a radical publisher's survival, but I
would never argue that radical presses in India or China or any poor nation
should pay us a copyright fee to publish our books. We make the books available
so that they can be sold at very low prices in these places. If we go out of
business as a consequence of necessary comradely actions, then th
at is what will be. Perhaps the analogy isn't perfect but this action of yours
seems similar to those of the Martin Luther King family and the current leaders
of the United Farm Workers peddling the copyrighted images of Martin Luther
King and Cesar Chavez for money. I am sure these heirs would say they are doing
"God's work" with the money, but we all know that isn't true. I hope you
reconsider your decision and rescind it immediately.
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