AMAZON AIDS BOOK THIEF

Paradise Garage in the Seventies

I have been a DJ and member of many music and dance communities since the Sixties.  Music has been a consistent passion in my life and a redemptive force when times were challenging and dark.  I have experienced many life-affirming and life-changing hours on dance floors from the Paradise Garage in New York City to the Wicked Full Moon beach raves in California.

In 2001 I wrote a series of essays on dance culture and history for SFraves, an online rave-oriented bulletin board in San Francisco, under the collective title "House Music 101" by Apollo.  "Apollo" is my DJ name and community personna.  This series was not written for profit;  rather I produced the work to freely share my passion for house music and my personal account of its creation.  House music is an Electronic Dance Music (EDM) genre and was the first to evolve from the disco music of the Seventies.

House Music 101 has always been available for no charge under a Creative Commons license:  attribution;  no alterations;  no commercial use.  The series is available in all parts of the dance world and has received much attention in the US and the UK.  My old friend Ramy of Living Arts has housed a digital reference copy of the series on his website since the work first appeared:http://livingart.com/raving/articles/housemusic101.htm

House Music 101 page at Living Arts

A couple of days ago I received a copy of "The House That Jack Built" by Apollo.  No note, just a name and address:  David Gross, ---------- Street, Berkeley CA.  The order was fulfilled by a company
in South Carolina:  www.createspace.com.

Createspace is apparently a "do-it-yourself" vanity publisher.  It is a company owned by Amazon.  This relationship "creates" a beneficial tie with Amazon books for a person interested in uploading words, publishing and selling them.  This information was on the invoice enclosed with the book.  Createspace/Amazon fulfilled the printing, packing and delivery.

Inside the cover I found the copyright information.  The copyright was owned by "Apollo (pseudo. for Kielarowski, Henry)."  The work was subtitled "house music 101/apollo."  OK.  But near the bottom of the page was printed "For more information see Stoke the World http://stoketheworld.net/"  Stoke the World sells body boarding gear.  What in the world is going on here?

My first thought was that a friend had published House Music 101 and sent the book as a surprise gift.  People in the community have often encouraged me to publish House Music in book format and/or digital reader format.  My thinking here was and is that since House Music 101 is available for free and has been for years, publishing the work for sale seemed silly.  I would have to do some revisions, add significant content, and search for and obtain the use of photos to illustrate the work.  Ideally a CD with at least samples of the songs discussed should be included with the book.  I haven't had the time or resources to move forward with this enhanced House Music 101.  The Stoke the World advertisement:  I used to surf and I love water sports.  But that's pushing it.

I haven't Googled "House Music 101" for some time, so I did a search.  I was shocked to find that my work was on sale at Amazon:

"The House That Jack Built:  House Music 101" was also on sale at Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Google Books, and Paperback Exchange.

I did online research on "David Gross" in Berkeley, CA.  His name and address, as you will recall, was on the invoice accompanying the book.  The first item that came up was his website, www.sniggle.net:

Ah.  I see.  Mr. Gross is a "culture jammer."  Impostors.  Forgeries.  Counterfeiting.  And Mr. Gross is a sniggler.  In an interview with himself Gross states:

What do you see this form of cultural activism (sniggling) as achieving that more traditional or conventional forms of activism have failed to achieve?

There are certain enemies — lies, illusions, mass hysteria, etc. — that do not have institutional edifices or infrastructures to protest or disrupt. The only way to defeat them is to go after them where they live — in people’s minds and in their mediated representations.

Have I been sniggled?  Is all of this some illusion created by sniggler Gross to teach me a lesson?

The fact is Mr. Gross apparently published House Music 101 for sale without my knowledge or permission.  Incredible.  I did some further research and found Mr. Gross's resume online.  It says he has a degree in computer science.  I also found his phone number.

I called Mr. Gross as well as exchanged emails with him and this is the gist of the story Gross told me to explain his reason for publishing my work to create profit for himself.  In his own words:

Several months ago, a good friend of mine came out of a grueling cancer treatment with a plan to "Stoke The World" with a performance / builder space, a network of traveling pods full of creativity-enhancing tools and props, and a bunch of other things.

He found your "House Music 101" essays to be particularly inspiring, and
contracted me to turn them into a professionally designed book that he
hoped to distribute widely as a way of promoting the culture it
describes and also of promoting awareness within that culture of its
heritage.  (I am an editing/publishing consultant by trade.)  He told me that he would contact you and was confident that the two of you would be able to come to a mutually-beneficial publication agreement.

Unfortunately, his cancer returned, putting his "Stoke The World"
project on hold.  He has been in the hospital now for several months, and I just received word tonight that they have stopped giving him any but palliative treatment and we are preparing for him to die.

I see…  House Music 101 has already been distributed widely for free.  Most people in the house and EDM community know of it.  The book was not "professionally designed;"  merely a stock product of Amazon's Creativespace.  Bottom line, who the hell should be making decisions regarding my work?  Format?  Proofing?"  The decision to publish at all?

I don't know, reader, what you think but I believe David Gross is a man who expends much effort to live off of the work of others.  I suspect he has a whole stable of works published by him at the bequest of a "dying man."

Let's assume the best about Mr. Gross.  The much larger concern for me is Amazon's facilitation of this theft of authors' work and rights.  From actual publishing and print -- Creativespace/Amazon -- through product placement and sale -- Creativespace/Amazon -- it seems clear to me that Amazon must take some accountability along the line for the authenticity and ownership of a work.  From what I can see I could upload J. D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye;"  title in "In the Rye;"  and sell Salinger's work on Amazon and participating booksellers.

I intend to pursue further investigation of Amazon's publication practices.  Sadly, corporate and personal values for many of the .com crowd reward those for whom the end justifies the means.  Lying.  Stealing.  Cheating.  It's all good if you come out on top.