Congratulations to Cory Doctorow on the release of his new novel, Eastern Standard Tribe. Cory has also released EST online (in various eBook and document formats), freely (under a Creative Commons license); and he explains his reasoning in this essay.

I recently finished reading Cory's previous novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, which I enjoyed. I started reading it online and then went out and bought the book. (I still use book reading as an excuse for not being on the computer.)

In my librarian days, I was involved with securing book rights, especially with trying to get permissions to store and distribute electronic versions of (usually, out of print and otherwise totally unavailable) books. At the same time, I also was involved with some physical reprints that had to make enough money to pay for themselves.

So, I am really happy to see Cory's success spanning both printed book sales and free online distribution. I once chatted with Cory about his attitude with regards to his position as a copyright holder and came away very inspired by his committment to free access being the senior principle over control rights, and not vice versa.

I have been considering this a lot lately, especially because it is a core theme in the book I am reading right now, Lawrence Lessig's The Future of Ideas. And, as Cory suggests in his essay, I think it is vital and interesting and, as a culture, essential to intentionally leave open and encourage the means of ongoing innovation (e.g., even by others) with one's own creative works.