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Martina Bex is getting even!!!!

January 10, 2017

Ugh, Martina, seriously, enough with the blog post titles written in third person!! So annoying!

Almost as annoying as WASTING MY LIFE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO TAKE DOWN MY COPYRIGHTED DOCUMENTS FROM PUBLIC WEBSITES!!

Thanks to all of my super sleuth friends that have been sending me more....and more...and more...and more...links to my products that are available for all the world to download for free. I really appreciate it and I hope you will continue! My husband took care of dinner and bedtime tonight so that I could spend another few hours sending out takedown notices. Fun!

Most of the time, when I hear back from someone about a copyright concern, they say that it hadn't occurred to them that other people could access the file. That's probably true most of the time. All of my products can be photocopied and distributed to a teacher's own students (NOT to students of other teachers, even in the same department, without the purchase of additional licenses), so teachers aren't sharing the files with their students electronically in order to get around a tight budget. Usually, it's an oversight. An oversight resulting in illegal activity.

However, I have come to know quite a few authors over the last few years that write novels for language learners; authors that have published with Fluency Matters (formerly TPRS Publishing) or TPRS Books (formerly Blaine Ray Publishing), and independent authors like Mira Canion and Robert Harrell (who wrote a great follow-up to my original copyright post). They are dealing with copyright infringement on TWO fronts: digital and print. Teachers often scan and upload their novels to public websites for students to be able to access from home. But perhaps even worse is the number of teachers that buy one or two copies of a novel, scan it, and photocopy it for their entire class! I get it, guys! Teachers aren't rich. Our work is important. We want the best for our students, and sometimes our budget doesn't allow it. But just like we cant always get what we want in 'real life', we can't always get what we want in teacher life. I have a list about a mile long of wonderful things that I would love to buy for my own children or for myself that would positively impact our family. But if the money isn't there, I can't just go and steal the stuff! I have to pinch pennies and find creative ways to purchase the things that we need. You have to do that as a teacher too, and it sucks! Waiting is the worst!! You're reading about all the cool things that other teachers are doing with novels, and you want to do them too--now! This year! Can't wait for next year's budget!! Well TOO BAD.

So here is what I am going to do about it. I didn't do a Hanukkah giveaway this year, so I am going to do a giveaway now. Two lucky teachers will win either one class set of novels OR a $150.00 gift certificate each to Teachers Pay Teachers! Any language teacher is eligible to win, although winners outside the US will be limited to the TpT gift certificate. How do you enter? Super easy! You just have to promise to not be a bad person. Click here to make the promise and enter the giveaway! Winners will be announced Sunday, January 14. May the least bad people win!

Click on the image to make the promise and enter the giveaway!

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