Purloined Poetry

Wendy Cope has written a passionate article about poetry and what happens to successful poets. As with visual artists, when their work is copied illegally, poets often find that it is the entire work that is purloined, not just a part.

Some defenders of open access talk about this sort of infringement as a victimless crime that shouldn't be thought of as anything akin to stealing (since the thing taken remains after it has been taken). This neglects the fact that for some people writing is a livelihood, and if their work is freely available from a quick Google search, this surely affects their sales, and thus their royalties.Whether we call it 'stealing' or not is probably beside the point: what is clear is that in many cases it harms creators. The irony is that many of the sites that present in-copyright poems in this way are run by people who purport to love poetry. They must have quite limited imaginations if they can't see the consequences of their actions.

If you love poetry, buy the books (ditto if you love philosophy)!