The Cat's Mreauow

There has been a lot of discussion lately about copyright and new laws to help enforce copyright. I think that one thing has been missing from this discussion. That is whether copyright laws as written are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Copyright was implemented in order to protect creators of art and culture from having their work used without their permission. It was intended to protect artists in the same way that patents protect inventors. The main difference is that inventors have to prove that they’ve come up with something unique before they get the protection while copyright is automatic. The idea is that if you come up with something you should be the one to profit from it – at least for a while.

Every once in a while I run into an odd situation where I just have to wonder about the people involved. That wondering usually results in a character who would do that. I have no idea if these characters have anything to do with the real people other than that one strange situation. So in the first of an occasional series, I’m going to share with you the odd situation.

Faith is something that everyone has. I’m not talking religion here. Faith is that sensation of believing in something without proof. You have it, in some way. You could have faith in a child or your morning rituals. You could have faith in the human spirit or the power of greed. Faith could be your religion, but it doesn’t have to be.

Authors are often asked “where do your ideas come from?” It’s an innocent enough question and so totally misguided. Even when authors know where an idea came from, the truth is probably a major case of TMI (Too Much Information). And really, most authors that I know have asked that question of themselves – only not so politely – at one time or another.