It is funny to see all these multinational corporations saying that
they don’t want to distribute free contents because they are
“protecting” the author. As an author, I would like to stress that our
goals are to be red to be listened or whatever. I believe everybody is
going to find an economical model, so everybody will be happy, but
till this happens let’s allow free contents as it is. I want to hear
your opinion on this issue.
Thank you,
Paulo
DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR ENGLISH. BUT IF YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE, POST IN YOUR MOTHER TONGUE (PORTUGUES, ESPANOL, FRANÇAIS, ETC.).
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Dear Heart:
Please try http://www.lighttechnology.com. They are wonderful people and are very supportive of spiritual books. I submitted a manuscript by e-mail and their editor took the time to read it and to tell me what I needed to do to improve my book. Do not allow fear to enter into your efforts. You are your own spiritual advisor.
Starfast
Dear Starfast,
I appreciate your encouragement very much. Your link is bookmarked, and I will check it out. The spiritual advice is outdated by now, and yes, I need to take another look at it.
Best of luck with your own manuscript!
Love and Admiration,
Heart
If I understood correctly what “free content” is, I will give an answer, of course from the behalf of the reader.
In general, it is very helpful for us to be able to have a significant hint of a book and decide later whether we shall buy it or not.
Let’s try to see some advantages and disadvantages. Dear Mr. Coelho, I shall use your name and your books just for my examples. All the assumptions are unreal, just to help me make my point.
• Let’s say that there is no “free content”.
1) One day I buy a book, for example “Brida”. Having read it, I dislike this book and decide never to buy a book from the author Coelho again. So, the corporation will lose money in the future.
2) If I decide to give one more chance to Mr. Coelho (quite unlikely), then it is 50%-50%. If the next book is again bad for me, the author is doomed.
3) If I buy a book, “The Pilgrimage” and I like it, Mr. Coelho has a lot of chances to be bought again by me. But what if I don’t like his next book? Then we return to #1…and #2.
4) In the end, the corporation will lose, because people usually don’t want to spend money for nothing.
• Let’s say there is free content.
5) First of all, I can read through internet and this will save me time.
6) If I like the book ex. “O demonio e a stra.Prym”, I will go and buy it. The corporation gains.
7) If I don’t like it ex. “Alchemist”, I will search for something else. Another author, ex. Tolkien will attract my attention. This means, more chances for more authors…more ideas spread.
8) However, maybe 6 months later, I check again Mr.Coelho, using free content; it is free, fast and gratis. And I come upon “Veronica decide morrer”. I like and I buy it. Mr.Coelho attracts my attention for the first time. Now, he has the chances to attract it once more.
The corporation gains again.
My examples say, to me at least, that free content helps not only the readers, but also the author and the corporation. So, I am in favor of free content. If things, in those big companies, are more complicated than my examples, then let the companies decide. But, I think it is for their advantage to listen to our needs…
I wish there was no concept of money in the world. But that will stay probably a wish ungranted, unless the human race has been swiped off this universe.
Love,
Liina
Estou contente. O Rio foi selecionado como anfitrião de Jogos de Olimpic !!!
and You, Dear Warrior of Light ??
abr,
Leonard
Paulo Paulo Paulo Paulooooooooooooooooooooooooo nós temos Olympia!!!
Paulo, boa tarde!! Só passei aqui para festejar a alegria do Rio de Janeiro ser a futura sede das Olimpíadas de 2016. E sabemos que voce faz parte do comitê a favor do Rio.Boa Sorte!!!
HI DEAR PAULO , RIGHT NOW I SEE YOU IN THE TV IN CONPEHAGUE , AND CONGRATUALTIONS BECAUSE RIO IS A WONDERFUL CITY TO CELEBRATE THE OLIMPYC GAMES BUT MY FAVORITE WAS MADRID BECAUSE I LIVED IN SPAIN EXACTLY IN BARCELONA , BUT I´M REALLY HAPPY FOR SOUTHAMERICA FOR THE REASON THAT I´M ECUADORIAN.
AND ABOUT THE TOPIC I´M THINK THAT NOW RIO DE JANEIRO IS A EXAMPLE OF FREE CONTENTS BECAUSE IN RIO 2016 MILLIONS OF PERSONS WILL ARIIVE THERE AND THEY WANT TO BE MORE AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY IN GENERAL AND THE COUNTRY WILL GET MONEY WITH THIS , I DONT KNOW .
AND AGAIN CONGRATULATIONS: RIO 2016 WAS THE BEST OPTION..!
VIVA O RIO DE JANEIRO PAULO!!!!! ACABOU DE SAIR NESSE SEGUNDO!!!! VLWWW!!! VIVAAA!! DEUS EXISTE!!!!
ABRAÇOES GRANDES!!!!!!
VIVA O RIO DE JANEIRO!!! I’M ALSO BRASILIAN AND OF COURSE AM VERY HAPPY ABOUT 2016!
RIO MEANS RIVER, IN ENGLISH.
IT’S AMAZING TO THINK THAT I SPENT THE WHOLE DAY THINKING ABOUT THE RIVER OF LIFE, THEN I FOUND IN THE INTERNET A PAULO COELHO’S BOOK THAT I HAD NOT BEEN ACQUAINTED WITH, A BOOK CALLED, IN PORTUGUESE, “SER COMO O RIO QUE FLUI”, AND, OH GOD, RIO, RIO, RIO WINS!
OH GOD!
Yo creo que es muy importante el contenido gratuito, porque en estos dias tan ocupados que alguien se tome el tiempo de leerte o admirarte es bastante y si hay muchos que pueden pagar por estos materiales pero la gran mayoria no, el tener acceso al internet es en muchas ocasiones un esfuerzo muy grande. Siempre he admirado la genrosidad de Paulo y el exito que obtiene deveria de servir de ejemplo a muchos mas para seguir sus pasos.
Paulo exito en tu actual lucha, los Olipicos del 2016, ya te veremos parado de manos, un abrazo, Cristina
Of course content should be free. And free of advertising too. The exchange of creative ideas has unquantifiable value by normal economic standards. I have worked as a graphic designer for some time, and in one job they wanted to measure my performance by introducing “Key Performance Indicators”. They wanted to measure my creative output and judge my performance, and therefore economic value to the company.
You can’t negotiate with these people. They are insane.
Dear Paulo and Friends,
Someone in the blog posted a real life experiment that was conducted (sorry don’t remember who. but thanks to them)….
It was about a famous violinst (Jason..) who was playing incognito one of the very difficult and lovely piece of music in a subway station in Washington and almost none stood and listenned. No one recognized it or stopped to enjoy such a great feast to the ears offered :FREE.
But of those thousands of people who walked by that day how many do u think would have gone into a music store and bought music CDs or paid $$ to get to listen to the same music in a concert/itunes etc at some point in their lives. Atleast a hundred would have.
We can draw our own conclusions from this experiment. But my inferences is :People (in general ,not you special WOL) grade art by the price they have to pay.
Think of T-shirts made in third world countries in squalid surroundings for a cost of $1….when added a brand-name logo like say Abercrombie . Polo , etc sell for like $100.
If the same T-shirt was sold in the street by a street vendor in the developing country, without the brand, then the same buyer would only pay $1.5 or maybe $2. Same quality , same everything !!
Just some thoughts i wanted to share.
love,
Laxmi
Laxmi, I used to give money to a busker who used to play in a subway in Melbourne. He used to play “Mad World” on a piano accordion, no singing just the tune which I recognised. He had a wonderful smile on his face.
One day I didn’t give money, but left a note “We’re not all mad you know”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4
:-)
Dear Savita Vega,
yes I agree, what can we do?
We can watch, where we ourselves have our narrow spots and learn
to open, let go there and share………
this will effect the whole web, everything is connected to everything , Love Ara
The richer they are (multinational corporations, many famous authors/singers/actors), the more greedy they prove to be.
I think it should be the most important thing for an artist to be seen, listened, read,… and this should be his most important reason to write, sing or whatever it needs to share his work and thoughts with others. Maybe most of them concentrate too much on money, like almost everybody does nowadays.
I buy my books because i love to hold them in my hands, but i also enjoy free contents just for an extract, to find out if i like it.
greetings from austria/klagenfurt
Hi Paulo and all,
I think it’s great to share what one feels comfortable sharing, you never know who might read it and what may come of it, part or all of my work. Even though I can download some books on the net, I usually buy them, so I have them to refer to, it’s amazing how much I get out of a second read. Like yours Paulo. Love to all Christine
Ola Paulo,
Eu Ainda não conhecia o seu blog, belo trabalho! Muito bacana mesmo!
When a writer writes a book, the book is telling something, a story. The important thing to the writer is what is inside, the story. In business it is different it is the wrapping, how to sell the product. They can make a paperback, hardcover, songs, poems, movie, sales campain and so on. Business is changing, world of economics are changing. Positive products with human and Gaia thinking is coming. Look at Virgin, read the book of Richard Branson, it is not a great book, but it is just how to give people ideas of how to start, he is not selling his future thoughts, a big lession is cooperation, working together. That is the main challenge of artists, working together, and make a product the people wants.
Look at Dan Brown, not a great story, but he is wrapping the subject into, what people want, mystics, intriges, nice beats bad.
Dan Brwon has becoome a brand, just like Coehlo….
At the moment Facebook is the biggest sosciety in the world, living by sponsors, advertising. They are tracking peoples interests, and putting advertising based on that, almost like they are at a service to the users.
Pranaam Dear Paulo Coelho… What do you think about India???
Please Take Some Time from your so busy schedule & please come to India… Please let me know When you are coming.. and in which City… So that I can come & meet You… I really want to meet you & talk to you… I can come to your place to meet you… but Sir right now I dont have that much money.. & first of all i dont have even a Passport… Both things will take time but can be arrange… but sir i am inviting you to my Place.. Aap ka Dil se swagat hai(You are welcomed from heart)!!!!!! Please Ignore my language mistakes… my english is not so good.. but i understand all your books!!! I have so many things to say you like i am one of your dieing heart fans.. your books are my Best freind… But Sir i dont think that these things need to tell you.. because you know about your books & about your readers… I can say your books are successfully working & achieving their mission.. the way you wanted.. they are the best gifts that you have given to this world!!!!
Namastey
Shivangi.
I was just considering books being published more in braille… and thinking this would then equate with free content also ;o)
Is a good idea
Dear Catherine, smiling again! I was wondering just last week if Paulo’s books were available in braille.
WOW, how exciting that you want to do this! Much Love, Jane : )
I first started to learn about the problem of big multinational corporations back in the 80′s when I engaged in some political work for a ‘green party’. We would discuss how these corporations took over, for instance in Brazil, and forced small farmers to produce only coffee, which could be exported and made into black gold, so to speak.
In the same way these large multinational publishers, or even as in Norway, where there are four big publishers, pretty much determining who will be published or not. My biggest problem with the large corporations is how they focus on a very narrow niche, and turn down all other writers. Myself, I have submitted one textbook, and two novels to these publisher, and was turned down with little encouragement whatsoever to pursue my work. So is my work of so poor quality? Or isn’t it all about printing works of FAMOUS people anymore, because they guarantee a large number of copies sold and money made.
Some writers are poor and offer his work as Self publishing, as for instance our dear Santosh. I’m not sure it is possible to make a living without the marketing of the big national publishers? So, very few will get a chance to learn of this one writer, although in my opinion he is a great poet, and as poetry in general never did make many authors rich, he might end up sitting on his wonderful work till ‘hell freezes over’.
Our opportunity of sharing freely of our individual writing or art is improving, with publishing tools and instructions even on how to offer products and make little businesses of our own. A problem is, who will secure literary quality, of the kind the ‘old publishers’ helpfully offer to authors they print? Will all end up with a MSN format and design, without artists decorating the written texts?
I still don’t see how the little man can compete with big professional production companies, in promoting his art, unless perhaps if the little man team up and work something out as a group. In that case, the writer or artist easily get cough up in exhausting operations having nothing to do with his/her writing, and perhaps looses the time necessary to concentrate on creating the novel/art. So, I think what I am looking for is a very different publishing industry, encouraging a much wider range of written products, and wider range of writers, including a combination of offering products for free and charging for these.
HI heart !
people who eventually succeed in getting published despite everything are people who learn that one needs to engage an agent or agents, the world of big corporations seem to run on contacts first, then merit. even paulo coelho had to wait some time and was turned down by some publishers. an inevitable period of struggle seems part of teh process. sad that many perish in the dtruggle, gaining whatever they gain and some succeed gaining whatever they do.
maybe u can give those creations of yours another go, keep sending them to publishers / agents, develop contacts etc etc. as paulo says no harm trying. It require more creativity to sell your creations than creating them, it seems.
love
aditya
Dear Heart, you have every reason to raise this problem. It’s the difficulty in granting the business with creation. Some creations come into the world with the help of the mecenat. Mecenat which has no comparison with the one which Leonard de Vinci could use (!).In France, there are festivals which invite small publishing companies. These small publishing companies have no same means of impact as the big publishing companies. On the contrary, they have advantage to make discover unknown authors to mass media without having real guarantee of one « return on investment ». This summer, I gave to my daughter, a CD ” LE MUSICIEN ET LE FABULISTE ” which blends music and narrates. I could discussed with the editor. This CD didn’t go out in big copy and it’s the editor and his collaborators who go up and down Europe to make the promotion of their publishing company and writings which are commercializes. There is also another difficulty : we don’t know these small publishing companies because they don’t have advertising made by mass media… of course !
As regards the artist, he must have an obligation of promotion in various country or areas, to mass media. In my view, the first years, he should not have the choice. Perhaps he has this choice when himself has enough financial independence and sure professional contacts to avoid this “drudgery”.
I hope that you will succeed in publishing your textbook of education by the system of small publishing companies. I transmit you the site of the publishing company which I discovered. They will perhaps be able to help you to find a resolution.
http://www.autrementdit.net
Light & Love,
Dear Heart,
Don’t give up….all of the friends here have given you valuable advice. One more area to try publishing is thru Amazon…they offer some service to host e-books. I don’t know all the ins and out , but one of my collge mate wrote a short children’s story and published it as a e-book. I don’t think he sold many copies though…maybe a couple as of 6 months ago.
But…the book is out there! Out there giving it’s best shot. And that’s what you should do too. if it’s forgotten it’s fine…but you should complete the task.
You said your spiritual guide advised you not to publish because he wanted to protect you from conterversy…..sometimes it’s the one’s who want to protect you end up stifling you. Understand his intent and see how you can mitigate any risks of conterversy and go on your path…
Good luck.
love,Laxmi
Dear Paulo
Noone has the right to deprive anyone of education.Once i heard a composer say that he has used poems of a famous poet without his permission.When the two men met each other after some years the poet blamed the composer for not taking the whole book,claiming that the composer made him public.I dont think they both thought about rights.They thought of creativity which must be the aim of every human
I first learnt of the poems of St John of the Cross in a similar fashion… a few lines had been selected by a composer and transcribed into a chorus song. It was very beautiful. How does/would one accredit St John?
A los nuevos escritores;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5kEZnQg8sk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TadL2biX-tI
Posibilidad a los escritores que quieran empezar a publicar sus libros.
I used to hear from one respect person that author’s right deprive the ordinary man to get information like the child get it from the world around, from his mother and father… But now when someone starts its works on writing or arts his wants to be sure that his work will have a value. He wish to earn money and get pleasure from his buissnes. There’s no one RIGHT opinion… Google scanned a lot of old books… Is it right or not? But Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa doesn’t bring him a money… because this genius had lived long time ago. But he gained this money. The cost is fantastic!) Ii will feed whole Africa continent! We must to respect the rights of everyone!
Los mejores contenidos son los que nos llegan de manera gratuita y nos hace recordar lo ignorantes que somos. El libro de Esclesiatés, las puestas y salidas del sol, sobre todo en el verano, una noche estrellada, una luna llena. Sentir que somos parte de un todo, somos parte de un entendimiento que nunca podremos entender, pero, si podemos interpretar y crear de la manera de como deseamos.
Love,
María Isabel
to me it seems that money is blocking the spiritual flow…in general.. you can’t charge for the stars or the sunset, or the wind bringing hidden messages from the universe….Inspiration for art, artists and their ‘products’ are just the opposite of focusing on material wealth…it may happen that artist become wealthy, but that is not their goal (let’s forgive them ha-haha). And free contents are free as the word says..nobody will lose actually it may be greed to posses everything instead of sharing..just my opinion
Some time ago I designed some illustrations for a wildlife conservation book. This week, the author sent his friends an email asking about whether to go soft back or hard back.. because of the price. His book is finally being published..
and it is easy for me to say in this case that everyone must earn their living and so to share the book free, rather than charge a sum of money to buy the book… makes sense.
It is difficult … some people are in a better position to offer their work free.
I really don’t know the answer/way forward… but anything free has always been a form of promotion, so surely the publishers can not argue with that?!
Congratulations on being published dear Catherine..will there be a web reference to your illustrations so we can get to see them?
Love and Admiration,
Heart
Olá Paulo, bom dia!
Veja, depois escreva aqui no Blog sobre a sua viagem para defender o Rio nas olimpiadas!
Abrações!
Hello Mr. Coelho,
I do believe in free culture, I understand that authors live on their work but there should be a limit somewhere right?
We´re living a surreal situation in Spain right now. A group of authors (singers most of them) have created an association that charges anyone who plays any of their compositions, or theatre plays or whatever. I agree until there, they buy their work.
But it´s getting to a point that we feel they´re trying to cheat on us, to rob us,…
They are trying to charge the bands who play in popular ‘fiestas’ in the streets for their traditional music; traditional theatre plays, who´ve been played for centuries on a special date to conmemorate the funding of that village for instance, bars who play pop music or rock music, etc. Most of these authors are already dead, and those who are not are getting paid for every record, play, etc. they sell. But they also want to get paid for everytime their compositions are used.
Besides we have to pay an extra amount of money for every cd, dvd, pen-drive, etc. we buy ‘just in case we use it to copy any of their works’
I believe this is madness. They´re treating their followers as thieves instead of trying to prize their interest.
There shuld be a limit somewhere, and still I DO believe in free culture.
I think it’s always a problem of measure.
That is untill where to protect a copyright is good, and where it turns into a persecution, that keeps the public away from art.
Of course those who work in the world of art must earn for their job.
This is natural and honest.
The problem is when all the business behind, force pepole to pay for everything even for the air we breath.
In the middle ages in Italy we had a tax whose name was “polveratico”.
It came from the word “polvere” (Powder), and was an imposition of kings for those who walked the (bad) streets of that time.
They where accused of risig the powder and this represented a pretext to impose a tax.
This tax represented a “curse” for the society, because people didn’t move, so commerce languished, and also cultural exchanges where obstructed.
In thi case, they pass the limit of the “common sense of Justice”.
Nowadays, we must take care of the limits, especially in these fields,to avoid to break the artists’ rights, and, at the same time, to avoid to be obstructed in our right to enjoy art, which represent a necessary “food” for our soul.
Love.
Chris
to me it seems that money is blocking the spiritual flow…in general.. you can’t charge for the stars or the sunset, or the wind bringing hidden messages from the universe….Inspiration for art, artists and their ‘products’ are just the opposite of focusing on material wealth…it may happen that artist become wealthy, but that is not their goal (let’s forgive them ha-haha). And free contents are free as the word says..nobody will lose actually it may be greed to posses everything instead of sharing..just my opinion
Thank you Paulo, for sincerity, kindness and generosity.
It is true that to give and share, we first need something. I think inside of us it is already there – the urge to share, as best we can, in our own unique way. It begins in infancy. That is Joy, and the giving, is gratitude.
What is the meaning or purpose of anything, including love, if there is no one to share with? There is a price to pay for everything, but for me at least, does not mean the dollar.
When an individual’s freedom or right to choose ‘how’ best to share this joy or love is removed or absent, suffering ensues (physical, mental, psychological). A huge price to pay.
I have faith in god, and am still here, smiling and full of Joy – not due to a pay cheque.
Feeling so grateful for free content! Thank you Paulo, and thank you everyone!! What you share brings so much Joy to my life (which is also then shared freely). Great medicine for the well-being!
Much Love To All, Jane : ) xo
first…beautiful name.
second …those who want something irrespective of whether its free or not dont they get it ? i guess the important thing is the urge…
by the way, i miss going to bookstores and stare at the paulo coelho section because i have read all his books…..i miss the earlier sense of excitement and smell of adventure when i could see a P.C book i hadnt read…..
Paulo this ones for you…….A big SIGH………………
Hi to you all, witam!
I don`t read many books
so I must speak in general terms.
But I believe in sharing –
all good. From the heart, for free
When I am doing that –
wonderful things always happen
By the way, this is a magical day*
Look!
world-wide-love,
BSofie
BSofie, this is a magical day indeed..
LOVE,
Thelma xxx
i love free contents in internet:)
but i do not want to make anyone feel dried up.
so first, everyone should find a fountain that never dries so that you can keep going.
love
Ohh, I am thinking that we worry about sharing on net things for free, while, there the people who can decide are not caring if average people has a home, money for living, a job. I think we dream about some Utopia. I would be happy if would be the world full with altruistic people, but for now we have to wait. They are mostly exceptions.
Love
Alexandra
Hi Alexandra.
I agree with you, but couldn´t it be that many exceptions became a general behaviour? We only need to go on and keep trying. We may not see it while we are living this life but who knows? some day…
Be optimistic! There is always someone somewhere who tries, we just need to believe.
Mr. Coehlo,
I recommend your books, especially The Alchemist, a lot.
I suppose I could tell people to just go on your site and read one of them.
But I like buying them and giving them away, when the feeling is right.
It’s a personal thing. When someone believes in something so much. Money is not an issue, even when there is not a lot of money. I like having the choice of deciding if a book is worth paying for, after I read it. :)
Be it a book, a clothes name brand, a song…anything.
So, if its really about protecting the author. Then the Big Man should hush, because Mr.Coehlo does not need to be protected from “the Readers”.
Maybe Mr.Coehlo should be protected from The Big Man.
Love,
Joe Barilla
Hi everyone:
There is a fine balance here that we can’t neglect, for as romantic as we’d all like to believe we are. Free content is great for the consumer, but if content creators have no ability to monetize their creations, then their ability to create will be decimated by their necessity to survive.
I am not suggesting that all content must come at a cost, but I believe that consumers must recognize that there is an effort going into crafting quality content, and that it can only be recovered through either advertisement or some form of subscription.
At the end of the day we must ask ourselves if news from random users are more valuable than news from reputable organizations. Is it better for users to follow “tweets” to stay updated, or are these the short-form of better content sitting on sites like CNN and The New York Times?
While I love free, I also understand the realities behind delivering content, and the costs associated to it. However, the ability to distribute content should always remain with the creator, and no organization should set limits as to what, where, and when can or should a creator publish in its own blog.
-J-
Fine, balanced analysis J.
to allow creative people to remain creative, some monetization maybe called for, afterall without money nothing moves. problem is not with this ‘basic’ thing, problem is when lies overshadow our intentions, e.g. it is prepostrous to say that authors interests are being protected, when it is well known that major chunk of that interest ( a new author will be happy to receive about 12-15% of teh cover price rest going to the publisher) goes to the big corporations. money induces one to become a lier, that causes the problems. why bill gates did not sell his windows for 1/10th of it price. why did he not make it free, when he had not even cretaed it, he just hired some cretaive people to create it.
Profits is no problem profiteering is, and it becomes painful when profeeteering is old in the grab of altuism, protecting nature, AIDS prevention, this that – those are sins as would be disocvered by its preparators soon enough !
love
aditya
Dear Paulo,
First i need to thank you for providing this free blog site for us WOLs to meet and greet each other.Providing these things is not cheap for you..maintaing a server and people to manage ..it costs money.
Second for providing free articles to read and books to download.
Last but not the least for Your valuable time.
You are able to do this because (i’m assuming) you can afford to. But not everyone can provide their services for free because of pure logistics….one needs to eat/places sleep/have access to healthcare/phone/computer.internet etc.
To give something free you need to have something to give. So you should have accumulated ‘it’(it being money/art or anything) first.
If someone wants to play the violin all the time for everyone to hear and doesn’t care about who pays to listen , then at some point his body is going to rebel and say i need food, clothes and shelter.
So my humble opinion is that intellectual property like art, books, music, thoughts etc need to be provided for a fee for a certain amount of time until the person has a chance to provide for himself/herself. After that certain period of time it can be made freely available.
Another way is to continue to get a fee but a small one and use that proceeds to fund charity or other free thought enterprise such as this blog.
love,
Laxmi
laxami,
why dop we assume that people will be ungrateful, a street musician who does not charge a penny is also given money, in earler times kings and nobles were known to donate freely to artists. free content and IPR etc are a big issue now a days, but can anyone create anything entirely on his own, everyone needs help and support from others.
this whole IPR thing needs a reevaluation, a new model needs to be found.
love
aditya
Funny but can we keep the secrets anyway?
Obrigado.
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Hi. I watched the video but was bit hard to understand. Some parts ok, but if I dont understand all I cant see your message. Take care
Love
Alexandra
Hi Anca, you are so calm and beautiful.. I am sorry the sound is very low.
LOVE,
Thelma xxx
Hi!
First of all – great to see You!
I totally get Your message and I agree with it. Certain thoughts speak to me especially direct, like what You said about having information as power – not giving it out to cut down the freedom of knowledge, so to say. And about the free content, that not all information is good for You, or trustworthy. And that kind of idiotic (sorry) thought that what is for free is worthless and what is paid for is the highest of the hights.
Thanks so much for sharing Your thoughts.
I understood You well.
I don’t think that we will have to grow up with that kind of thinking – but yes, the education in schools and out of the educational building walls, should center the thought of HOW to find information, and what to do with it, how to use it, and how not to let us be manipulated with it. It’s getting tougher and tougher to move around – You really have to be a strong person to see through the lies and fibbings some (corporates or such) that try to feed us with.
Thanks!
Love,
Liina
Thank you for your kind comments, I am always willing to embrace new technology, but I still need to figure out my sound.
I think that the corporation’s point of view refers to the extremes, they’re afraid to have all content out, which will deprive them of all income. That;s why they feel they need to go to that extreme. Even you, dearest Paulo, have only parts of your content for free, and sometimes for (smart) promotional purposes, which you still manage to do with grace.
That’s a benefit of free content that the ones driven by fear don’t see. Fear that somebody will steal it or that nobody will want it. I have a friend that made an e-book and released it for free. A year later, she got her first big gig as a playwriter, based on that book.
We live in a society where we believe ‘information is power’, and we interpret it by he who has information and hides it from everyone else has power over them. It’s a sad, sad concept that does not enable change. I think we need to change our mindset and interpret ‘knowledge is power’ so that we all have knowledge and become wiser as a society in using it.
What I find it even sadder is the underline message that if something isn’t making money, is worthless. Beauty is only beautiful is it’s expensive, words and stories have power only if they rank high in charts. I don’t think the people running those corporations actually took time to think if this is the kind of world they want to grow in.
Love, and don’t let a price limit any of your worth,
Anca
Dear Paulo,
I have just noticed that this is your 100th video in “Forum on”, how beautiful :)
It’s always lovely to visit your blog on Monday and watch the new video, I’m always excited about which topic you might have chosen this time and I hope you’ll never run out of ideas for videos.
Otherwise you could always count on us readers and make a video about “Topics for my videos” where you ask us to suggest topics for your videos. :)
Love,
Barbara
Having just moved to a new town where there is a currency belonging to this town… called the Totnes Pounds …
i have been reminded that what is important is sharing… for example, your currency is not money in the normal sense, but a system of exchanges: those which hold value and are worth something for exchanging.
Simples!
Anyway, i don’t know enough of the system… but i do believe it is a better way of viewing money… after all, the concept of money began in very simple ways: buttons, shells.. etc, were all used as a system of exchange.
Perhaps we today have mistaken the role of responsibility a little too far in the wrong way… thinking that because we can trade, that we have some right over that ‘other’…
hence subisidies, trade embargos, etc etc.
It’s such a game… and it is great that Paulo raises this issue… hopefully Paulo, you won’t stand alone in doing so ;o))
Dear Catherine,
Your comment, and especially the questions you raise about the inherent “value” of money, remind me of a documentary I once saw about a tribe living in the highlands of New Zealand. The people of this tribe did not use “money” – they had a barter system – but what was really interesting was their concept of “wealth” and how one attains it. In their system, it worked like this:
If someone needed something from you, say, a chicken, for example, and they had nothing to exchange for the chicken, it would be in your best interest to give them the chicken, or even two, if you could afford to do so, with the agreement that they would repay you later. And if they never paid you back, all the better! Why? Because their view of what constitutes “wealth” was completely the opposite of ours: The person who had the most number of things, the greatest amount of property, was not viewed as “wealthy.” One could possess more tangible property than anyone else in the tribe, but if no one owed them anything, they were viewed as being very “poor.” They measured wealth, not in the possession of measurable tangible property, but in I.O.U.s. It wasn’t how many chickens, or goats, or whatever, that a person had, but how many they had given away, and thus, how many were owed to them in return. With this view of wealth, everyone made great effort to give away as much as they could possibly afford to give, at every opportunity. There was no such thing as hoarding more than one could use, because doing so would make one very “poor” in the eyes of the community.
Just to show the contrast, let us imagine, in our society, an instance of bartering: One person says, “Hey, I’ll give you three chickens for your pig.” The other person says, “Make it five chickens, and you’ve got a deal.” So the other says, “I’ll give you the five chickens, but only if you throw in a piglet, too.” Each bargains to extract the most that they can possibly get out of the exchange. In this way, one becomes “wealthy.”
In this tribal society, however, it would work quite the opposite. Someone would say, “Hey, I’ll give you three chickens for your pig.” The other person, if they could possibly afford to do so without starving, would say, “Okay, I’ll take your five chickens, but only if you let me throw in a piglet, too.” Then the other would say, “No, no, I’ll take your piglet, but only if you’ll allow me to give you ten chickens.” And so on…. Each would be bargaining to try to GIVE more than they were getting in return. In this way, they would become “wealthy.”
It all sounds very strange to us, but somehow this system worked for them. No one in the tribe was starving, because people were always eager to give away anything and everything that was not immediately needed or essential. Wealth was constantly distributed, due to this perceived need to rid oneself of any and all “excess” goods. Nor did this view tend to deter production in any sense. People were just as eager to produce in their society as they are in ours – they were eager to produce in excess of their individual needs, specifically so that they COULD give away the excess and thereby become “wealthy.”
Of course, I’m not suggesting that our society could ever be converted to such a system, but I think that this example is very interesting in the sense that it invites us to question the very foundations of exchange and wealth which we so often take for granted as unalterable. We seldom consider that these are just concepts which we, as a society, have invented. The rules are not immutable – they exist, and often appear immutable, only because we have collectively agreed to abide by them.
With Love,
Savita
Hola Paulo:
¡No se imagina lo que significa para mí poder contestar a su mensaje! ¡Es todo un placer!
(Lo siento por los lectores en inglés, pero es que no me salía y he preferido contestar, aunque sea en español, a no hacerlo).
Creo que la mayoría de la gente está de acuerdo con el hecho de que haya contenidos gratuitos en Internet. A los únicos a los que no les beneficia es a esa gran industria a la que se refiere, porque sus “intereses” (léase dinero) está en juego.
Yo siempre había creído que realmente eran ustedes los autores, los que reclamaban estos derechos, porque al fin y al cabo, ¡de algo tienen que vivir! Lo que sí es cierto es que actualmente hay demasiados intermediarios en todo y, al final, son los que más “tajada sacan”.
Si no es demasiado atevimiento e indiscrección, ¿nos podría decir qué porcentaje de la venta de una de sus obras es el que usted se lleva? Porque estoy segura de que todos pagamos por el autor y confiamos en que la mayor parte os repercuta directamente.
Un saludo desde Barcelona,
LORENA
Dear one,
everyone , who has experienced the laws of the Heart, knows, that free (unconditional) giving increases the flow back to the giver.
So one who forbids free giving, just does not know. He is in fear
instead of in trust. But: there is no medicine against fear – one has to risk.
Otherwise s/he remains bound to the laws of the world for profit. S/he thinks of having more to feed the illusion of safety, maybe even happiness.
Give them an experience, where they can feel their heart content,
that may trigger something…….
Much love, Ara
Yes, Ara, I certainly agree. In our society we tend to operate on what might be termed as a “theory of limited supply.” In fact, our entire economic system is founded upon this concept – the idea that there is only a limited supply of what is needed to survive, and thus, we must strive to attain and secure as large a portion of this limited supply as we possibly can. But there is another way of viewing the world, and that is by the light of what might be termed the “theory of abundance.” This is the idea that, yes, there is enough for all, and that, whenever whatever it is runs out, more will appear or be produced to take its place.
A little scenario to illustrate how our actions are affected, depending on which theory we adopt in life: Let us say that a person has a single dollar in their pocket, and that is all the money they have in the world. They are walking down the street and they meet a beggar, who is obviously starving. If their life is guided by the “theory of abundance,” they will give that dollar to the beggar, trusting that somehow, some way, another dollar will come to take its place. If, however, their life is guided by the “theory of limited supply,” they will say, “No way am I giving away this dollar! It is my last dollar, and I have no idea where my next dollar is coming from.”
The first person is acting in “trust” – trusting in the universe to supply what is needed. The later person is acting in “fear” – fearful that there will not be enough to meet their needs. The first person, acting in trust, is able to be generous. The later, acting in fear, is ever greedy. It does not matter if it is one dollar or a thousand dollars, ten-thousand, or a million. The person’s ability to act in a giving manner is greatly determined by how they view the world – a world of “limited supply,” or a world of “abundance.” Do they trust, or do they fear? Even a millionaire can be fearful. So easily can they justify greed by saying, “Hey, this is the only million I have. I have to make it last. If I give some of it away, I’ll never manage to replace it. I might run out. I might become poor!” This is essentially why people hoard more than they need – why they store away and furiously guard more than they could ever conceivably use – because they fear that if they give away, even a little, it will never be replaced. They do not trust in the universe to provide. They live in fear, thinking that the universe is a place of “limited supply.”
Certainly, some of our resources in this world are limited, our natural resources, for example, but even these are ever being replaced as we come up with new ways to fill these same needs. The world in which we live is ever abundant. The only thing that fills it with lack and want is our own greed, or own refusal to share and give freely of what the universe so generously supplies.
I just started writing so I can see where authors need to make a living, but too many hands are reaching for the spoils. There must be a way to lower the retail cost of the completed novels or plays or story compilations. This is even more of an issue when the local libraries (as good as they are) do not have a wide array of contemporary or cutting edge literature (my local library does not have anything written by Paulo Coelho – I have already read everything but other people are being depraved of his work). Knowledge is a right and yet most people cannot afford to educate themselves. Who knows what capable minds are being left in the dark. Something does need to be done. Who knows where the cure for AIDS will come from. We are trained to use our resources, yet people are often left bu the wayside. I think I will stop here, I am making myself mad.
How many corporations got on the bandwagon after the fact, how many books were published independantly or published by small presses, then found an audience and made their way to the big houses? I noticed on Paulo’s web site a reading club list of sorts, the internet will act as a marketing tool in the near future, it’ll just take time to centralize sites, because you can get lost in the internet, it’s like a maze. If an artist chooses to share their works for free, it’s theirs to share. I think we’re living in a wonderful age, an age of immense possibilities where people have a voice. It used to be that if you toiled on writing a book and couldn’t get an agent or a publisher, that manuscript just sat in a drawer and collected dust, now you can share it. Now you can write on blogs, comment on politics, share your views with the world. As I mentioned before in a post, greed, greed will try and stop this. As I’m writing two little fawns are sitting outside my window, nibbling on the hillside, having had their breakfast. My desire is to, like the Little Prince, get them to eat out of my hand, to trust me, patience.
Hello Paulo.
This is my first comment here.
I’m Japanese but working in Phuket, Thaland.
I always bring your book to everywhere when I move out from Japan. And just knew that we have a new book “Brida”. But you made this book in 1990!
Anyway, I wanting to get this book soon.
Itsumo anatano kotobani sukuwareteimasu.
Arigato!!
Hi Mayumi,
I’m glad to see you Mayumi…My baby brother is married and live in Phuket, Thailand. Please give him a big KISS from me. I miss him so much.
Love and Admiration,
Heart
Arigató!
I completely agree with you Mr. Coelho, in my view, artists should have websites with a donate button so that anyone that likes there work and would like to DIRECTLY support the artist, then they can do that easily.
I love radioheads approach of “pay how much you think it’s worth”, but I think as the years go by, artists will come up with new and exciting ways for us to connect with their work and to pay for it.
I just don’t want to support the corporations…ever.
PS. How much are you on the internet nowadays? ;P I think you’re really in touch with modern life.
So true! there must be a way to do this is the future, making free contents available is maybe the best way for new artists to be known.
Estimado Paulo: Soy una humilde poeta y escritora uruguaya, he seguido su obra siempre, ha sido un referente para mi, pero en momentos de crisis accedí a sus libros mediante contenidos libres.
Hoy he visto su post en twitter y me acerqué a comentar pues creo que si bien es necesario el dinero para susbsistir en este sistema,y bien lo sé yo que estoy siempre al límite economico, él tampoco lo es todo.
Difundo mi humilde obra por la web en forma gratuita, y eso me enriquece, porque el intercambio con los lectores me llena de amor y fuerzas para continuar, siento que mis textos le sirven de alguna manera y los hace encontrarse o identificarse, y eso me hace feliz… Es un ida y vuelta, un intercambio de amor.
Soy apenas conocida, pero quizá lo hubiera sido menos aún si me hubiera limitado al sistema editorial y a sus intereses, así como a mi círculo y a mi país. Pienso de esta forma hoy y sé que si mañana tuviera la fortuna de crecer de tal forma que pudiera vender mi obra para vivir de ello, también seguiría pensando de la misma forma. Pues sé que quien valora realmente una obra y puede pagarla, paga por obtener un edición de lujo, y quien no puede pagar por ella se edifica con el contenido de sus dichos aunque sea escrita en un documento de Word.
un abrazo .
Sandra.
Hi!!
I am totally agree, the knowledge and the books must be public, is like water, we do not have to pay for the water but for the service to have it in our house, and pay to clean in it up back to the nature, but the water is free.
Only 20% of the population of the planet has access to good information, knowledge and books, the rest??, only if everybody could pay 1 cent then all the costs would be completely payed even more.
But why not only the 20% payed one cent??. Then it would be payed completely too.
The money must go to the writers, libraries and editorials. And all the people in planet could have access to them.
One cent per month and probably we could built schools and another stuffs. …..
The actual system is wrong when it want to capitalize the ideas, as Platon said, we live in our minds, then the money is totally fake :-)
Thank you very much to talk with us and let us express freely trough this space.
Warm regards
Amelin.
Ohhh, is not about knowledge only. Have you seen the movie about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart life? He was poor all his life and died poor. Why? Because it was in his time no author right. You understand my point?
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