One of the really good aspects of all the emails we get from readers is the positive feedback. Many readers are so positive it almost becomes embarrassing. We try to make the magazine as entertaining and informative as possible, so it is very gratifying when people do write to say they like it.

One such letter came in this week from a school teacher, singing the praises of the magazine in general and the PICAXE series of articles in particular. He loves it and so do the students. But there was jarring sentence at the end: "I hope it’s OK to photocopy 20 sets of the article for my students."

You would not believe how much that sentence hurt! Only a few minutes before that I had signed off on this year’s payment from the Copyright Agency Limited. The Copyright Agency is the legal body which oversees all photocopying done in universities, TAFEs, schools and libraries. On the basis of their recording of photocopying, the CAL makes an annual payment to publishers. All very well, you might say. And the amount to be paid SILICON CHIP for the whole of 2004, for all photocopying in all the above institutions? $701.75. Unbelievable.

In fact, there is massive under-recording of photocopying in all these institutions and for years publishers have been complaining to the CAL that the whole system is severely inequitable. Some years ago, I spoke to a school teacher about this and given her knowledge of the extent of photocopying of magazine articles in her school alone, I asked her to estimate the annual copyright fee that would accrue to SILICON CHIP. She said it would be huge but when I pressed her for an actual figure, she said $26,000. When I told her the actual fee for that year, she was astonished.

And while photocopying is rife in schools etc, what about all the photocopying being done elsewhere, in company laboratories and so on? We cannot put a figure on the lost revenue every year but it would undoubtedly make a large contribution to our costs.

All of this is a fact of life and we have no legal recourse. All we can do is point out to all those people so enthusiastically photocopying is that each and every photocopy represents a loss of revenue. The same comment applies to all copying of course, whether it applies to magazine articles, books, CDs, software or whatever. Ultimately, this amounts to theft of intellectual property and it reduces the incentive for publishers of all media to continue in business. The music business is in very dire straits for this reason.

So if you really like SILICON CHIP, one of the very few magazines of its type in the world, please remember that it takes a lot of resources to produce this magazine to a high standard. If we are to continue to maintain and raise the standard and to provide the service that you want, we do need your support. Letters of praise are nice but buying the magazine is more effective.

And thanks to all those many thousands of enthusiastic readers who subscribe or religiously buy SILICON CHIP every month.

Leo Simpson