1. no special rules are needed -- I think anyone should be
allowed to create a digital publication of any kind and copyright it.
Do you pay the plumber every time you use the toilet?
Do you pay the electrician every time you flip a light switch?
Do you pay your car manufacturer every time you fill it up with gas? (
Yes, that is a real example.)
Edit: Just to get it back on topic: Do you pay your bank every time you make a payment?
No, I do not pay the plumber every time I use the toilet
because that was never our agreement. I paid him to
fix it once, and he did.
What in the world does that have to do with someone
creating a digital publication and selling it to many people?
They are 2 different things. One is selling a service,
the other is selling a digital item.
In both cases, however, there is an agreement between
buyer and seller, and no one is forcing anyone to
do anything.
The plumber won't fix the toilet unless I agree to pay
him his $75. And I won't pay him his $75 unless he
fixes the toilet.
If I publish, say, an ebook, the offer is that you can
buy a copy of it for $20 knowing full well other people
are doing the same. If you don't want it, don't buy it.
Again, no one is forcing anyone to do anything...
That's how the free market works.
If you don't believe in the free market,
then that's your right.
But if you decide to download my ebook off some torrent
site even though I didn't give you permission, I would
consider it stealing... I would consider it defrauding
me because you can just as well pay the $20 like
everyone else is doing, and if you don't like the price
I set for it, please don't read it.