SFWA » Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin resigns from Authors Guild

Mary Robinette Kowal — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:20:17 +0000

On December 18th, Ursula K. Le Guin posted an open letter on her website, resigning from the Authors Guild in protest about its role in the Google Book Settlement. She has been a member since 1972.

In part, the letter says:

I am not going to rehearse any arguments pro and anti the “Google settlement.” You decided to deal with the devil, as it were, and have presented your arguments for doing so. I wish I could accept them. I can’t. There are principles involved, above all the whole concept of copyright; and these you have seen fit to abandon to a corporation, on their terms, without a struggle.

So, after being a loyal if invisible member for so long, I am resigning from the Guild. I am, however, retaining membership in the National Writers Union and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, both of which opposed the “Google settlement.” They don’t have your clout, but their judgment, I think, is sounder, and their courage greater.

Today, the Guild responded to her letter, arguing that the deal was good for authors and ultimately protected copyrights.

Litigation, particularly litigation over the bounds of fair use, involves risk. Some critics of the settlement wrongly dismiss that risk, but the fact is that we certainly could have lost the case. Losing would have meant that anyone, not just Google, could have digitized copyright protected books and made them available through search engines. Since creating a search engine is rather simple, anyone with a website — Civil War buffs, science fiction fans, medical information providers — would then have been empowered to start the uncontrolled scanning of books and the display of “snippets.” Authors would have no say in those uses and no control over the security of those scans. The damage to copyright protection would have been incalculable.

RIP: Karl Kroeber 1926-2009

Mary Robinette Kowal — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:10:51 +0000

Literary scholar, Karl Kroeber passed away this morning. He was 82. Best known for his work with Native American literature, he was also English and comparative literature at Columbia University. Our condolences go out to his sister, Ursula K. Le Guin, and to all his family and friends.

Happy Birthday Ursula K. Le Guin

Mary Robinette Kowal — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:56:35 +0000

According to the biographical note on Ursula K. Le Guin’s website, she has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, three collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc.

What the site doesn’t say is that today, she is celebrating her 80th birthday. During those 80 years she has touched the lives of countless people, some who know the warm and fiercely intelligent person, and others who are readers and have met her only through her fiction. The impact of the person and her work has made a far deeper imprint than the ink on a page.

As part of an online celebration, we’re asking people to wish her a happy birthday. Please share, if you have a favorite memory of her or her fiction. To start us off, here’s Robert Silverberg.

Dear Ursula:

45 years ago, when you were a mere wee girl, editor Cele Goldsmith of AMAZING STORIES introduced you to me at the 1964 Oakland Worldcon as one of her most promising new writers. Cele didn’t exactly say what it was you were promising, but I’ve noticed that you’ve written a story or three over the succeeding years, and I’d say the promise has been kept.

Happy birthday, Ursula! Live long and prosper!

Robert Silverberg