Derby copyright essay

papers/derby-copyright.mdwn

@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+Title: Copyright Advice for Small Leagues
+
+There's enough in common that hacking sometimes feels like derby's big
+brother, and watching derby struggle with copyright law makes me want
+to chime in with some hard-learned advice that computer nerds worked
+through in the 90s.
+
+A modern derby bout requires people from all different walks of life
+to come together, and so this sport--which began
+with a strong punk "skater-run" ethic--has had to bring in creative type
+from all sorts of different cultures which don't necessarily share the
+same values.  This is causing friction, but I think I know
+how to solve it: stick to derby's roots and insist on volunteer work,
+even if the professional stuff would look nicer.
+
+
+Some Background on Copyright
+----------------------------
+
+In most parts of the world, when you create something--like a logo,
+some software, a blog post, or a web page--you get the right to decide
+who is allowed to copy it: the copyright.  In order to use someone
+else's work, be it on its own or as a part of your own work, 
+you need their permission.  Generally speaking, authors will pick one
+or both of the following two options:
+
+1. Grant permission if you pay money
+
+2. Grant permission if you agree to certain terms, usually some
+   combination of:
+
+   * Give them credit for their work
+   * Not make money from anything your work is in
+   * Don't prevent anyone from copying/sharing your work 
+
+This has resulted in an observable cultural split. On one hand,
+you have a [market ecomony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economy),
+in which using someone's work without paying them is bad,
+often called "piracy". On the other hand, you
+have a [gift economy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy),
+in which using someone's work is high praise, and creates a
+debt to humanity that can only be repayed by
+[paying it forward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_It_Forward).
+
+
+How This Pertains to Roller Derby
+-------------------------------------
+
+To avoid drama, your league needs to be aware of copyright law,
+and who is reserving which rights on what works.
+
+A few years ago, apparently ASCAP was aggressively bullying Roller
+Derby leagues to pay a "performance fee" for having music at their
+bouts.  This is shady for a lot of different reasons, none of which
+merit getting into in this article, but it serves as an excellent
+example of why leagues need to be fully aware of what works they're
+using and what the terms are for using those works.  (In a little
+while, I'll be offering a bittorrent download of a double-header's
+worth of Creative Commons music for leagues to use, allowing you to
+cheerfully tell ASCAP to get bent.)
+
+Maybe your graphic artist is a "market economy" type of gal, and your
+computer nerd is a "gift ecomony" guy.  The graphic artist is going to
+want tangible payment, but the nerd is going to be happy to be doing
+something useful.  What happens when the nerd finds out you've been
+giving money to the artist for the time she's spent on art, but he
+hasn't been getting a dime for his hours?  Or what if your league
+thought that the donations from both the nerd and artist were given
+freely and without expectations?  The answer to both questions is the
+same:  butthurt and drama.
+
+At this point I need to reveal that I am a "gift economy" thinker. 
+People interested in my creds just need to visit [my
+homepage](http://woozle.org/~neale/) or do a web search on my name to
+see my involvement in free culture.  Suffice it to say that I'm
+passionate about this stuff.  Derby's do-it-yourself ethic was a
+very comfortable thing for me to get involved with.
+
+
+What should you do about this?
+------------------------------
+
+Small town leagues have no business entering into agreements with any
+artists unless the terms of that agreement are spelled out clearly in
+advance.  You need to be up front with all of your artists that you
+have no money and expect them to volunteer their time and skill for
+the love of the game and the gals who play it.
+
+Acknowledge that your league is a gift economy.  Embrace it!  You have
+nothing to give in return other than the community of your league, and
+you expect anyone entering that community not to start making demands. 
+Everyone should feel a profound debt to everyone else who helps out. 
+Beer should be bought.  Invitations to parties should be given.  But
+you need your dues--and ticket sales, if you have those--to pay for
+things you can't get from volunteers, like insurance, paint, photocopies, and
+tape.
+
+[Look what can happen](http://www.derbyinfocus.com/2012/08/on-value-of-derby-photos.html)
+when you get a market economy person in a gift economy situation.  He's
+laying out his argument very reasonably, because there's nothing
+unreasonable about market economies.  But he's missing the point that
+(most) leagues are gift economies.  Read between the lines here:
+those leagues are losing their photographer because, suddenly, he's
+demanding payment or increased gratitude.  I'll bet those leagues had
+a couple really long drawn-out meetings about this:  do the other
+volunteers feel this way?  Are we not appreciating our volunteers
+enough?  Butthurt!  Drama!
+
+And payment is a Pandora's box.  As a gift economy guy living in a
+market economy country, I can tell you that if my league decided to
+start paying certain volunteers, I would probably adjust my view of
+the relationship, and get hacked off that I wasn't valued enough as an
+official, DJ, photographer, and software developer, to be paid too. 
+Or, if I knew the full situation, I'd think that photographer was
+being a douchebag by extorting the poor league.  Butthurt!  Drama!
+
+Sure, the presentation is going to suffer when you get out-of-focus or
+poorly-framed photos, amateurish artwork, and web sites that look like
+Geocities in 1997.  But the skater-run, non-professional feel of small
+town derby is one of its distinguishing characteristics, and makes
+fans feel connected to the team.  You want skaters who are doing it
+for the love of the game, why not ask the same of your other
+volunteers?
+
+You might want create a "volunteer policy" that you share with everyone. 
+Here's a start, feel free to use this or base something new off it:
+
+> Thank you for offering to help with our league!  Because we have
+> a tight budget, we can't afford to spend money on anything that can
+> be done by volunteers, even if the quality is less than professional.
+> We rely heavily on our volunteers in order to bring the sport to our
+> fans, and we are truly grateful to everyone who helps us do so!
+
+
+Conclusion
+----------
+
+People have different ideas about how they want their work to be used.
+Some want to be paid.  Some just want credit.  Still others want to
+make sure nobody makes money.  Small town leagues usually don't have
+the money to pay anybody, so to avoid hurt feelings later on, you need
+to be very clear about this right from the start.
+
+Understand that some folks are going to say you're being unreasonable.
+But it's better to get a little of this early on, than to deal with the
+big drama that will crop up later once it's clear to everybody what
+everybody else expects.

papers/derby-software.mdwn

@@ -1,5 +1,25 @@
 Title: Software in Roller Derby
 
+You don't need technology to run a derby bout.  It can make things
+a little easier on the NSOs.  Fans might appreciate rinxter
+online updates.  But the focus needs to be on the game, not your
+awesome technological infrastructure.
+
+Main points:
+
+* Shit breaks.  Complicated shit breaks more, and needs bigger
+  nerds to fix it.  Stay simple, and you can recover quicker.
+
+* Low-tech solutions are cheaper, more durable, and easier to
+  repair or replace.
+
+* Integrated solutions are awesome right up until the point
+  when they fail.  A failing scoreboard can be fixed while
+  the bout continues.  Tie your official clock into that system,
+  and now failure means nobody plays derby.
+
+
+
 Possibly because Roller Derby is full of skaters who are huge nerds,
 and skater spouses who are huge nerds, there is a lot more software
 available than you'd see in any other amateur sport.  Leagues may feel

papers/index.mdwn

@@ -4,12 +4,24 @@ These are papers I have written. Most of them were written to explain a
 concept to someone on woozle.  Hopefully other people will find them
 useful, too.
 
+Roller Derby Stuff
+------------------
+
 * [Running Audio/Visual for a Roller Derby Bout](derby-av.html)
 * [Dirtbags DJ Setup](dj.html)
-* [How to make the game of Monopoly suck less](monopoly.html)
+* [Copyright Advice for Small Leagues](derby-copyright.html)
+
+Computer Nerd Stuff
+-------------------
+
 * [Reply-To Munging Still Considered Harmful](reply-to-still-harmful.html)
-* [A Call for the Complete Elimination of Joke Haiku Production on the Internet](joke-haiku.html) by Paul H. Henry
 * [Converting .docx files to text using unzip and sed](docx.html)
 * [Introduction to TCP Sockets](sockets.html)
 * [3-Minute HTML Tutorial](html-tutorial.html)
 * [How DNS Works](DNS.html)
+
+Everything Else
+---------------
+
+* [How to make the game of Monopoly suck less](monopoly.html)
+* [A Call for the Complete Elimination of Joke Haiku Production on the Internet](joke-haiku.html) by Paul H. Henry