marxists.org ordered to delete Marx/Engels Collected Works

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jonthom
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Apr 25 2014 08:39
marxists.org ordered to delete Marx/Engels Collected Works

from http://marxists.org/:

Quote:
Lawrence and Wishart, who hold the copyright for the Marx/Engels Collected Works, have directed Marxists Internet Archive to delete all texts originating from MECW. Accordingly, from 30th April 2014, no material from MECW is available from marxists.org
English translations of Marx and Engels from other sources will continue to be available.

This article from boing boing gives some more details, as well as linking a torrent of the works in question.

iexist
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Apr 25 2014 10:23

I believe Barbra Streisand is personally gonna mail these files out.

no1
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Apr 25 2014 11:28

you might want grab the html of the stuff that's disappearing on 30. April, without hammering their server too hard:
wget -w 5 -mk –limit-rate=100k https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/

S. Artesian
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Apr 25 2014 13:05

Marxists.org - full English language archive is at thepiratebay.se


http://www.mediafire.com/download/8ucud101l6kfmra/MECW+1-47.pdf

Download with unix at: wget-m
http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/cw/index.htm

The wget command is also available for Windows as part of the Unix utilities from http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/

Fleur
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Apr 25 2014 13:43

Just because they're available at the Pirate Bay, it doesn't mean that we can't annoy the fuck out of Lawrence and Wishart on twitter @LW_Books or by email or phone -
http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/contact.html

They describe themselves as independent radical publishing so perhaps radicals should let them know how they feel.

no1
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Apr 25 2014 13:53

(deleted - not a good idea)

cresspot's picture
cresspot
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Apr 25 2014 20:39
Fleur
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Apr 25 2014 21:10

Lawrence and Wishart's statement. They are apparently feeling that they're at the receiving end of sectarian online abuse and also a lack of appreciation for their historic role in radical publishing.
http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/collected_works_statement.html
I guess they've packed up for the weekend now, so any further sectarian abuse and baseless slander can probably wait until Monday.

edit: it's getting picked up by the media
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/25/dont_you_dare_try_to_liberate_karl_marxs_private_intellectual_property/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/capitalism-fells-communism-in-marx-engels-copyright-flap/

jonthom's picture
jonthom
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Apr 26 2014 10:12

from the statement:

Quote:
Over the last couple of days Lawrence & Wishart has been subject to campaign of online abuse because we have asked for our copyright on the scholarly edition of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels to be respected. The panic being spread to the effect that L&W is ‘claiming copyright’ for the entirety of Marx and Engels’ output is baseless, slanderous and largely motivated by political sectarianism from groups and individuals who have never been friendly to L&W.
Shorty's picture
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Apr 26 2014 16:12

Isn't the use of 'sectarian' incorrect here? Sort of the kneejerk way the swp use it whenever they're criticised. Wanting marxist texts to remain part of the digital commons is sectarian now?! confused

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Khawaga
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Apr 26 2014 16:14

They also accused their critics of not understanding Marx analysis of the capitalist mode of production. Quite hilarious.

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Reddebrek
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Apr 26 2014 17:40
Shorty wrote:
Isn't the use of 'sectarian' incorrect here? Sort of the kneejerk way the swp use it whenever they're criticised. Wanting marxist texts to remain part of the digital commons is sectarian now?! confused

Well since they used to be part of the old CPGB and got most of there books published thanks to the assistance, cough money cough, I think crying sectarianism is just them dusting off the old blame our failures of false saboteurs line.

Fleur
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Apr 26 2014 18:15

I don't know about sectarian, I think that Lawrence & Wishart managed to unite communists pretty solidly over this.
Also, I would have thought that someone at L&W must have realized the response this would elicit and would have pre-prepared a better statement than this everyone's being mean to us whimpering one.

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sabot
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Apr 26 2014 19:10

I'm too lazy to look this up but hasn't the copyright on Marx's work expired and part of the public domain now?

Entdinglichung's picture
Entdinglichung
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Apr 26 2014 20:18

according to bourgeois copyright law, not for the original texts but for specific editions and translations, whose editors and translators are still alive or have died after 1943

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Juan Conatz
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Apr 27 2014 23:15

So I'm a little unclear about this. How much of what is in these books is available only through them? I've seen people saying the Grundrisse will now be unavailable online, but I thought that was translated into English long ago and is put out by other companies? I'm anti-copyright as much as anyone, but its no secret that libcom has had take down requests (mostly informal) from authors/companies over material on here, guess I'm wondering why this situation is getting a different reaction.

no1
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Apr 28 2014 06:56

Response by the Marxist internet Archive to L & W
http://marxists.org/admin/legal/lw-response.html

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Steven.
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Apr 28 2014 09:21
Juan Conatz wrote:
So I'm a little unclear about this. How much of what is in these books is available only through them? I've seen people saying the Grundrisse will now be unavailable online, but I thought that was translated into English long ago and is put out by other companies? I'm anti-copyright as much as anyone, but its no secret that libcom has had take down requests (mostly informal) from authors/companies over material on here, guess I'm wondering why this situation is getting a different reaction.

as I understand it, the translations in these collected works are generally recognised as the best translations, so these translations will no longer be available on Marxists.org

Entdinglichung's picture
Entdinglichung
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Apr 28 2014 10:11

btw., aren't Anarchist Studies published via L&W?

niluferguzel
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Apr 29 2014 16:00

Dear Artesian thank you very much for your help

iexist
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May 3 2014 02:42

Have any other publishers said anything about this? Like AK or PM?

Dave B
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May 10 2014 14:41

Description of Recently Founded Communist Colonies Still in Existence by Frederick Engels

perhaps one of the earliest explicit descriptions of communism seems to no longer exist on MIA and seems to be an early casualty.

Although it appears to be on another site