Re: Net publication of Jewish Music Conference papers, London 2000

[Eliott Kahn <Elkahn...>]

>The bottom line is this: do you want fascinating and learned material from a 
>groundbreaking conference on Jewish Music to be available to everybody, or 
>just to a few research scholars and institutions?
>Merely 'interested people' would not pay to download a lecture - I for one 
>would like to scan through all of them, but I couldnt pay for this privelege.

>I don't think making information free on the net devalues the scholars or the 
>host, on the contrary it seems absolutely 'ethically right' to me. Of course 
>you can not put it on the net and release it in a book which you can sell, but 
>as I see it information on the net from an educational body should be free of 
>charge, no question.

If the proceedings were published and sold in book or CD-ROM format, you could 
peruse it for free at the libraries that purchased it. Or you might choose to 
purchase the volume yourself. 

My feeling is that many internet users simply have no concept of the idea of 
"intellectual property." When people write music or books, paint pictures or 
take photos, it is usually the sum of years of their own hard work. Scholars 
who present papers or write essays usually receive little or no financial 
recompense, yet it is tacitly understood that they might possibly be rewarded 
with publication in a respected journal or special edition. Simply to dump 
scholarly papers on the internet DOES devalue the work and I, personally, would 
find little reason to produce a paper--or song or recording--if I weren't 
recompensed with either some money or prestige. To me it doesn't seem 
"ethically right" to bust my ass for free. 

Eliott Kahn



>I understand that funds are always extremely short and that independent arts 
>bodies are always looking for ways to raise extra revenue, but I think this 
>path is a misconceived one and will ultimately bear little fruit. After all 
>your work putting on such a fantastic festival it would be a shame if others 
>could not continue to share in it.
>
>Anyone else have any feelings on this?
>Yours
>Jonathan.





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