When I was a student, which wasn’t today nor yesterday, but to be fair, isn’t a million years ago either, I listened to a lot of music, and read a lot of books. I didn’t have much money for either of these things. In fact, due to a combination of a healthy social life, and an unhealthy smoking habit, I didn’t have any money for either of these things. And yet I still had books, and I still had music.
Very occasionally, I would get presents of books or CDs, but mostly, I borrowed books from friends, family or libraries, and copied other people’s CDs onto tapes for myself. The books I actually bought were for school or college courses. And whereas the other authors I was reading may have been paid royalties from libraries (presuming they weren’t long dead, which many of them were), the musicians whose music I ripped didn’t get a cent.
I was a pirate. A crappy, small-town, small-time pirate, but a pirate nonetheless.
When I first started working, nothing much changed. I remember thinking at the time that real wealth would be having the money to buy any books or music I wanted. But I was being paid a pittance, and I spent all my money on rent (and cigarettes). So I continued to borrow my books, or buy them second-hand from charity shops. And I continued to rip music from other people’s CDs, and share my own.
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Okay. Writers now hate you. What’s your point?
My point is that if I hadn’t had these means of access to books and music, I would simply have gone without. Tobacco companies were a far greater influence on my buying decisions than technology.
A lot of the discourse about piracy, file-sharing and the notion of ‘free’ on the Internet now assumes that every free thing, or pirated thing, is lost revenue. It assumes that an entire generation has now become used to getting stuff for free, and will never want to pay for anything. It’s said to be causing the demise of the music industry, and the publishing industry. Social technology, it’s said, is killing art.
But whilst I’m fully behind the campaign to pay authors and artists for their work (this whole notion of powerful people making someone work for free in return for ‘exposure’ is a scam, and every instance of it should be publicly denounced) I believe we have to accept the fact that some people are just never going to spend their money on this stuff. Such as 18-year-olds who really want a holiday in Ibiza; 22-year-olds in their first job who are getting paid so little they wouldn’t look out of place in a Dickens novel; or 38-year-old parents who can’t afford their mortgage. Unemployed people. People who would never buy books or music anyway. I could go on.
There is no point demonising the increasing transparency of a practice which has been going on forever. People have always lent books to each other, and if anything, this is now happening less.
The e-book is still a far milder revolution than the CD. The CD brought easy and transferable copying: e-books brought the first book piracy, but mainly the notion of ‘free’, where people download free books they would never otherwise pick up, if asked to pay any money at all for them.
That Doesn’t Make Piracy Okay, Meanie-Pants
Piracy is of course illegal, and should be prosecuted. But how true is it, really, that piracy is destroying the livelihoods of authors and musicians?
Established creatives are far more likely to be losing money from the increasingly punitive contracts forced upon them by Internet giants, record labels and publishers. Publishers, after all, are still making as much money as before. How authors are being paid, though: that’s changed.
Both established and emerging artists and authors are also losing significant revenue because of the market noise created by cheaper self-publishing. It’s harder for everybody to get the word out.
And most emerging or self-published recording artists and writers earn so little, it’s hard to imagine a case where piracy is having any real effect on their pockets. Or dissuading anyone from purchasing their product legally elsewhere. It’s easier to imagine a case where punters just won’t bother with them at all if they don’t get their work for nothing.
As for livelihoods being destroyed, just look at the retailers. Even the massive chains have found themselves in trouble. But I don’t see recording artists and authors crying about them. (Except for James Patterson, and I normally give out about him, so enough about him giving neck-saving grants to independent bookshops all over the world before you make me grumpy.)
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But It’s Still Piracy’s Fault, Right? That Artists Starve?
These days, I rarely borrow. I don’t copy. I buy everything, unless it’s being given away for free, and I don’t tend to go looking for that.
What changed things for me was not the money going into my pocket, but rather the money that was coming out of it. From the early noughties, and perhaps in response to what was going on digitally, books and music started to become a hell of a lot cheaper. And so, I bought. Book promotions were everywhere, and I stocked my shelves with 3 for 2 offers until I got a Kindle and bought cheaper books online.
Music was the same. Every CD I wanted was bloody expensive in the ’90s, unless it was Austrian folk music from a bargain bin (which I did actually buy once, for 2 Deutschmarks. It was called Viel Spaß und Freude). When music became less expensive, I started to buy more. Then I bought loads. And I’m still buying loads. (I also no longer smoke. Up yours, Big Tobacco.)
So Whose Damn Fault Is It Then?
Look. The sales model broke. It’s still broken. But even this broken sales model is reaching more people than before. It’s reaching people who would never have even contemplated buying what they’re downloading. This is not lost revenue. Because you can’t lose what would never have been yours.
Some people today still don’t buy books, or pay for their music. But that was already happening before the Internet. And cracking down on online piracy doesn’t address the real problem.
The real problem is that the sales model is still broken. Customers aren’t getting what they want, and authors and recording artists aren’t getting paid. So could we perhaps focus on fixing that now?
Absolutely! Hear hear! I don’t go looking to see if anyone pirated my books. I sell so few it hardly matters! 😂 Although it does piss me off that someone else might be making money out of them. The main thing for me is to be read. And yes, it’s been going on for donkeys… Remember of a Sunday waiting for the top 40 to come one so you could record the songs from the radio with your finger poised on the stop button so you could hopefully cut off the annoying DJ blubbering all over the end of each song? Ah, good times! As soon as I had money, I bought what I wanted from legit places. Same for most people. Its only the big authors who possibly have anything to fear from piracy. Although I do applaud every time a site gets shut down. Theres too much other, more important stuff in life to worry about. Thanks for the ‘where is your common sense’ reminder! 😁
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God, I remember those days of cramped fingers from hitting the Rec and Stop button at just the right second 😀
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Lol! I know! Growing up in the 80s, what fun it was! Sigh. Kids today just dont know they’re born! 😂😄😁
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I keep wondering what the wee one will make of my old tapes. And pencils.
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You know what? She will love your old 80s music till she’s about 10. Then she will develop her own taste and hate your music! And they still use pencils in school. Mind you, Ireland is still in the dark ages in some respects. The rest of the world is probably using ipads in school already.
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Lol – I was actually referring to the relationship between the two items – tapes and pencils. No wonder you didn’t get that; only an old fart like me would remember that, I guess 😀
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Nope… not getting it. And I am an older fact than you. And I know this, because you had a birthday recently. So there!
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I got it, Nick. Many’s a tape I rewound with a pencil. Probably because the rewind button was always broken on the crappy player. And I’m only trotting after the two of you… by the way, do either of you need any help in crossing the road, etc?
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Sorry Tara, I always look for a nice young man when I need to cross the road…
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So… you never rewound a tape using a pencil? That was just me? Can’t be – there’s even a meme about it (see below)!
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Well, not that I remember, but then I don’t have a very good memory, on account of being so OLD!
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Oh, shush you! 🙂
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You do know that you drop 983 points on the Coolometer as soon as she turns 7, don’t you?
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If you have boys you remain cool until they are about 16 :-).
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Which is why I’ve been stocking up in cool points since day 1!
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You young ‘uns, you think you invented it! We were doing it in the 70s, long before you came along with your push-buttons to make life easy!
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Lol, well you’re wearing well, old-timer! 😂
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You’re too kind. How is the guide dog, by the way?
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Knackered.
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Goodness! Me too!!!! 🙂
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Shhh, now we’re just dating ourselves 😀
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So true, Ali. I still recognise the bits on those songs where I worked my fingers off to squeeze every last second before pressing the stop button! I played those mix tapes until they melted. That’s the thing about radio. If we had nothing else, we would still have that to listen to. And you’re right about the big authors: although it’s harder to feel sorry for them. The most pirated books in the world are the 50 Shades books. She might have lost a good third of her revenue. Such a shame she was left with only the bare hundred million, eh?
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Yeah, my heart bleeds for her… not! Hehe! 😂😂😂
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Ah Ali,I remember taping Top of the Pops of a Thursday night off the telly and me dad voice in the background shouting” turn off that shite,is there no news on?” Happy days 😊 Tara,I think my recording of Showaddywaddy might be worth a few bob,although they might not appreciate da calling them ‘Nancy boys’ 😂
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You know what, Bernie Rose – if you just combine that with the right (wrong) photos of Showaddywaddy, you have a YouTube viral hit on your hands. Or a lawsuit. Either way it’ll be fun! Yay! Say you’ll do it!
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I’d do it in a ‘Heartbeat’ for you Tara but I could be takin’ more than ‘3 steps to Heaven if I did’ Jayyyysisssss
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Reblogged this on Nicholas C. Rossis and commented:
Tara comes out of her pirate closet, and tells it as it is. As I often say, obscurity is the Indie’s enemy; not piracy.
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I like that saying, Nicholas. I might pirate it. 😀
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Of course you might, you dastardly wench! Harrr
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Ooooh, is it pirate joke time? How very jolly!
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Sorry, the moment’s gone now. All I’ve got is something about walking my plank. And shivering timbers. And rum. And parrots (see below).
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Love this. I once contacted BitTorrent and asked them if they could share Pearseus: Schism. Sadly, I never heard back from them – they probably thought I was just another disgruntled writer out to sue them.
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Could you not upload it as a user yourself? Isn’t that what torrents are about? It’s a great idea, but then again, you’re usually ahead of the pack on this stuff I think.
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I could. But I wanted them to add it to their list of “hot” releases. Obscurity is a threat even with torrents 🙂
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Ain’t that the depressing truth?! (And another post entirely!)
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I was going to call you a shameless criminal, but I’d really like a copy of those Austrian folk songs. By coincidence I only mentioned in a comment yesterday how piracy has always gone on, but the digital age revealed for the first time the scale of it. And it scared people.
I did it and the trick with recording songs off the Top Forty radio shows. (Even now I listen to some songs waiting for the end to be cut off mid-word.) I also have a massive collection of vinyl and tape, paid for, and a space-gobbling collection of CDs and DVDs. Without piracy outlets like Limewire and Kazaa I would never have gone on to buy so much stuff by the artists I initially downloaded for nowt.
As you say if the stuff is worth buying enough people will buy it to make it worthwhile for the artist/publisher/label. My only worry, and I’ve managed to convince myself on this, is that my own lack of sales is because of a piracy website I haven’t discovered yet where my books are regularly in the top 100 list of downloaded novels. I could be (what am I saying, I must be) losing thousands in lost sales because of this unknown undiscovered pirate site where my work has gone viral.
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I just ripped that album and e-mailed it to you, Chris. You’re lucky, because I normally don’t carry it around with me, except on Thursdays, when I keep it very close for obvious reasons. I’m very sorry to hear you haven’t found the place you went viral yet. I haven’t either. And I make hourly checks for pirated blog posts.
Free music and books have often led to purchases for me too, and not just for new stuff. Over the past few years I’ve been buying mp3s for a lot of old music I originally copied in the 90s. And some books I’ve lent out and bought second and even third copies of because I loved them so much. Which, when you think about it, makes me kind of a sap. A total sap, in fact.
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Would you like to buy three copies of all my novels? (And thanks for the folk music.) I forgot to mention I’ve also got boxes and boxes of VHS tapes too. Perhaps one of the reasons why copying might be more prevalent today is because it’s easier and you don’t need to buy a second house to store everything in.
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Poor salesmanship there, Chris. Why stop at 3? I’ll take 7. As long as they’re free, obviously.
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I couldn’t agree more with this. We have always shared books and copied cassettes. I still remember my sister making several copies of a 1984 Wham cassette when a hole appeared in the tape where Careless Whisper should’ve been!
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Nooooo! Not Careless Whisper! Do you remember the people who had that very very very special cable which went between two tape recorders and allowed you to copy tapes? They were so hard to get, and whoever had one was like God, seriously.
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Ah now Tara, you can’t deny how great a sax solo can be! I was very young and naïve and desperate to impress my big sister. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it 🙂
You must’ve been very posh with your extra cables. I have a vague memory of someone putting two cassette players up against each other and trying to record with the microphone.
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I won’t deny anything. I was a huge massive ginormous fan of the Careless Whisper, so I was. Had I only that cable, I would have had the copies to prove it.
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Surely you’re too young to remember it!
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G’wan ya big charmer!
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I’m going to copy this and post it as my own. Stop me if you can. Arrrrrggghhhhh Me Hearties!
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Oh, I’ll stop you the only way I can, Conor. By stealing your artful food photographs and putting them up on my substandard, amateurish restaurant site. I heard tharrrr’s money in that.
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Too late. That’s been done to death.
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Ooh, I don’t know. You’re still standing…
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Hmm, a tricky moral dilemma… as a student I spent my grant (I was the lucky generation) on books and LPs. I agree that the model for the arts is broke, but I know too little about it. Viel Spass und Freude, however, I must have.
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Your moral compass put mine to shame, Hilary, there’s no denying it. Perhaps it’s because I smoked. As we all know from the movies, smokers are villains. However, I will not endanger your soul by giving you pirated music now, after all that. I’m afraid you’ll have to do without.
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I think I have an old LP of Scottish Country dancing (which I love), that will have to do instead.
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Last week, I was contemplating on whether or not I should pay for Kanye West’s new album. To be honest, he does still make good music, he should get appreciation, and Def Jam doesn’t really bleed him too much. On the other hand, I don’t want to help him get the means to sink more of his finances into ill-advised ventures and end up with another $53 million in personal debt.
Guess what option I went with.
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Ooh! Ooh! Let me guess!
Hmmm.
I know! You crowdfunded the purchase of two copies of his album! Right?
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Yes! Yes, I did exactly that! Now the man can invest in fashion so I can pay more money to look homeless!
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Thank heavens. I was worried there for a minute.
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He can afford to look homeless. :(.
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Ain’t that the sad and awful truth.
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As a smallpress author I’m happy any time someone reads one of my books – especially if they pay for it and even more so if they write a splendiforous or at least polite review. Paraphrasing from above, obscurity is a bigger enemy than piracy. The e-book created lots of opportunities for authors and readers, but it’s a bit like trying to drink from a firehose. As for music, I too remember recording from the radio. I was very keen on the new cassette tapes – only one side to worry about as opposed to the four breaks in an 8-track.
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It’s downright tough for small press authors out there, Armen. Tougher, in a way, than for self-published, because you often have less control over the marketing and distribution of your book. So in that way, all exposure is good exposure. I don’t think anyone would ever want their stuff to be pirated, but if piracy were to result in a fair review, it almost becomes a balanced transaction!
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Yes, I occasionally wish I was independent rather than small press – especially with the sales channels consolidating, but a contract is a contract. As for reviews, given my return per sale, a review is almost always better (assuming it’s half-decent) than my royalty per book. Definitely a bargain compared to Kirkus et al.
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As long as it’s a well-written review!
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All I’ll say is that these are perfectly good arguments, but I’m willing to bet you’ll feel differently when it happens to you. Sales and publicity for my book were never great in the first place, and when I see my book pop up on dozens of free download sites it just feels like insult to injury, sickening and unfair, for whatever irrational reasons. Plus I don’t think anyone treats free stuff with much respect. I’m not sure that I will be able to afford to write another book, and this is partly why – not a large part, but it’s there.
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No, I get you, Janet, and you are right, of course. Nothing irrational about it. If I saw my blog posts on someone else’s site I’d be absolutely raging, and I’m already writing for free. I’m not saying it’s not bad: but I am saying I doubt it’s costing you. I don’t think your readers are downloading your book illegally, and I don’t think the people who illegally downloaded your book would ever have bought it.
And I hope that you do write another book, and that the underhanded exposure you got through piracy will improve the reach of your next one.
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Meanie-pants? Ha ha. Quite a topic to be taking on, Tara. I don’t mind bookstores and music stores that sell used material, the same as I don’t have a problem with libraries, right? 🙂 There will always be people who for one reason or another don’t have the means to purchase new and the more readers the merrier. Readers are a good thing! That’s why so many writers run giveaways!
That said, I think there’s a difference between sharing books and music between friends, which doesn’t bother me a bit, and running a website that offers tens of thousands of downloads of pirated material. It comes down to intent, and to me, those websites are all about deception and thievery. I’d like to see those shut down on principle. Especially, since there are plenty of legitimately free and discounted books to keep everyone reading for years. 🙂
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Just to be clear, I’m not saying piracy is okay. As I said above, it is illegal, and should be prosecuted. No pirates should ever be allowed to profit from sharing, because it is stealing. We are in complete agreement on that. I’m just saying piracy shouldn’t be blamed for lost revenue, and I don’t think it’s doing artists and authors a tenth of the detriment they think it is.
Besides, I only called myself a pirate because I was trying to be cool 😉
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I get it, and I agree that we probably aren’t losing the revenue we think we are. My books are on a Beijing site (I think it’s Beijing) and I figure the thousands of downloads wouldn’t be purchased anyway. This also assumes the site isn’t some other type of scam that normal folks shouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.
And, I think we need to call them something besides pirates. In my fantasy world, pirates are way too cool. Argh.
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I reckon those sites are fudging the numbers on downloads anyway, Diana. They’re ratcheting up numbers like fake Twitter followers to make it look like there’s traffic on their site when in reality, you could be talking about download numbers in the tens or less. Or more likely zero.
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🙂 🙂 What! You mean ten thousand of my books haven’t been downloaded? Ha ha. Have a great weekend 😀
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I like D. Wallace Peach’s differentiation between sharing among friends and sharing on a giant website.
I am just a book consumer and most of what I read is from the 1800s anyway; I don’t pirate anything. But in the old days of physical books, I could buy one, read it once, and pass it on to a friend, library, or charity. Now with e-books, I can only buy it and either keep it or delete it from my archive — I can’t pass it to anyone. It’s like pirating in reverse – I feel like my sharing rights have been taken from me, and I am a legitimate customer. Shouldn’t the publishers reward my buying habits with the ability to pass on one electronic copy of the book to someone? I would love to be able to pass on the $40 textile history books I buy to a library for their collection, or to a favorite charity and they could sell it. I would be more likely to buy if I knew that the book could go on to reach other interested people.
And as for fiction, I am definitely not going to buy a $14.95 e-book that I can’t pass on. I will wait to find it at the library or on sale. I will just read something else.
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I agree most heartily. That’s a part of the post I had to cut, for fear of running into 10,000 words. Traditionally published e-books are still too expensive. It’s not just the fact that I can’t lend to a friend: I find it downright cheeky and predatory that big publishing houses are charging what they are. It’s a bloody disgrace.
They have none of the risk – no print materials, no bulk ordering restrictions, no distribution expenses – and yet they try to charge the same for e-books as print books! Even the marketing expense is already incorporated into the general print release. So they can feck off. They’re not getting my money in that case, and unfortunately, authors are the ones who suffer for it.
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Reblogged this on Jan Hawke INKorporated and commented:
My WiP (A Freebooter’s Fantasy Almanac), a fanfic roleplay character’s memoir fully acknowledges that piracy thrives quite happily online and gorges on cerebral material as well as free lunches in the marketplace.
I think I blame Jack Sparrow – he’s a bad, bad man! 😉
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You can blame him all you like, Jan, but I would forgive him anything 😛
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We are all pirates! We have all pirated one time or the other in our lives. As a music teacher, I had to provide song sheets to my students. Well, composers will allow teachers a number of copies they can make of one song, but do we stop at that? If they want me to make only ten copies, and I have twenty five students, you know what I will do. Whose fault is it then that I do not keep to the number allowed? The school that will not provide enough money for me to carter to all my students, of course, not me, for I must have something to teach with. :(. Schools do not have much respect for music! :(.
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Great point. Is the problem also that proper provision isn’t made for teaching materials? This goes for textbooks or research papers too. The old model generally says you have to buy one of everything for everyone who uses it. In reality, that’s never going to happen. They’d probably make more money if they did deals based on a more realistic number of licensed uses for educational purposes.
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Interesting points! On one hand I know piracy is a crime, and I hate to take money away from artists. On the other hand, piracy has made so many things accessible to me and others. In some ways, I think it actually benefits some artists since it can get them more exposure. I don’t download illegal books/music much nowadays, but I admit I did it a lot when I was in high school and college, and I discovered a lot of my favorite authors and musicians that way.
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I agree, Brigid. In a great number of cases, pirated stuff results in later sales which would never otherwise have occurred. But it’s hard to prove, because who’s going to go on the record about it!
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“obscurity is a bigger enemy than piracy” says a comment above and I agree. Can’t think many people would bother pirating my books. Why, when there are big names available rather than unknown. Must remember to add to my next set of goals : Get sufficiently well-known as an author to be pirated.
Writers reduce the cost of their ebooks on Amazon all the time to drive sales. And I rather suspect that pirated copies might even increase sales as those who once lived on free downloads find they can afford to pay. It’s more satisfying (and perhaps for some better for their image) to have shelves of paperbacks and hardbacks lining your room, or several Kindles brimming with ebooks that you can boast of, than folders of downloads on your computer.
I must admit to buying in charity shops, and have also recently bought several books from Amazon at one penny each (plus £2.80 postage). Money saved on those will be spent on other books, so getting recycled.
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There’s been a lot of talk online about the second-hand book thing lately, due largely to a viral post by Kristen Lamb, about how second-hand book sales are supposedly bad for authors. I don’t think myself that anyone should have to ‘admit’ to buying books from charity shops. There’s nothing wrong with it. The royalties on those books were originally paid in full, and it’s lovely that a book can go on to have a second life. Again, it’s a sale that would never otherwise have happened.
In an admittedly weird way, piracy can be a benchmark of success. It’s like the time I got my first death threat on the blog. I knew I’d made it then. I didn’t stop grinning for a week.
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I don’t condone piracy. It’s stealing. And Diana is right about intent. But you make an excellent point. People forget or overlook how a lot of readers find their books. Rarely do I buy a hardback at full price. I use the library frequently and have been known to (gasp) borrow a book or two or three. I skulk around discount bookstores, even Powells, to find bargains. So, how can I make a pirate walk the plank while I offer the first book in my series free as a marketing strategy and delight over 4500 downloads?
Music, art, and books have always been vulnerable to copying. And you’re right. With the ebook and iTunes making music and books has gotten so much cheaper, I’ll buy the song or story nowadays off my iPad rather than spend time, effort and gas to drive to the library or discount bin. With the lower cost of ebooks, I bet customers are spending more than ever before. It’s too easy to drop a few bucks on a book and shrug, saying that you spend that much on a cup of coffee.
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Exactly, Sheron – and your last point is one which is often made by authors, I hope to good effect. A book can often only cost the price of a coffee. A coffee lasts for half and hour if you’re lucky. I know where the value is!
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Completely agree. A lot of this piracy crap is just moral blackmail on the part of big business. The money never went to the artist (with VERY few exceptions).
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Yep. iTunes and Amazon have a hell of a lot more to lose from piracy than the people creating the bread and butter which keeps it all going, Helen.
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That took some time to read. Read, snort stop, reminisce about the only times I’ve been outside the law in the form of piracy-books, tapes, cds, clothes- read, snort, reminisce about taping from Atlantic 252 and Capital radio … Great post and hear hear on it all! Sure doesn’t Amazon let you give your book away anyhoo? The thrill and excitement of getting it on the black market might make people actually read and give a review!;)
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That’s the ideal, isn’t it? It’s horrible to think that someone else is making money from stealing your things. But it’s far more likely to think that they’re making nothing and a few extra people are hearing about you. Fingers crossed!
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I used to buy mostly second hand books as I was on a strict budget but as you say digital is so inexpensive there’s hardly any need to now – except that I love browsing around second-hand book stores. 🙂
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Me too, Jean. The possibilities are endless because you can find books which just aren’t available new any longer. And to be fair, second-hand print books also come with a better pedigree.
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You mean there’s another copy of Viel Spaß und Freude out there? I thought I had the only one. I’ve come over all nostalgic. Now where did I put it?
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Well, you’re not having mine, Graeme. You’ll only make 67 copies and depreciate mine by 873%. I’ve done the sums on this, and you won’t win.
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I’ve seen your sums before, and I’m not so sure
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Oh yeah?? Well, I’m not going to descend into some sort of slagging match with you now.
But so’s your face.
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Reblogged this on graemecummingdotnet and commented:
Book piracy is becoming more prevalent, and being talked about a lot more. There have been complaints about pirate movies for years (even before Johnny Depp did his Keith Richards impression) and big campaigns have been mounted to combat them. I’ve argued strenuously (well, rolled my eyes a bit) when I’ve heard acquaintances talk about films they’ve seen that have obviously been copies. But the reality is that most of us have been pirates in our own way at some points in our lives – and not just in the bedroom. (No? Just me then…) I think Tara explains it all much better than I can…
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Thanks, Graeme 😀
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This is a topic that we hear about year after year, and where many can look down their noses and claim that this is the worst possible offense out there, their judgment might lead to them being just as guilty as most people that I know. I have been guilty myself – music has always been my great escape. I enjoyed reading your post and hope that you don’t mind that I have nominated you for the Liebster Award. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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Of course I don’t mind! Thank you, Faye, and thanks also for your comment. The lines are indeed blurry when it comes to piracy and there’s probably a large cohort out there who don’t even realise they’re doing it.
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I have no doubt. I was young an in middle school when downloading off of “LimeWire” was the way to go. Most of us, including me at that time didn’t realize the piracy until it was shut down. Again, I enjoyed your post as it was very well written and informative.
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It is tricky. We live in a world where limited resources require us to prioritize through our choices. I always try to support the artists that I most value, tempering that with an understanding that some need it more than others, but it can get expensive.
As an anime fan this came up often when previously fansubbed media would suddenly be available on DVD/Bluray. But one producer in particular took a stance that really stuck with me. “I don’t believe in punishing those who download our media for free. I would prefer that people download and watch it for free, rather than not see it at all. But once you have seen it, if you like it, if you want to see more, support it. If not, that’s okay. We’ll either try something else or stop making it.”
And that’s a very valid stance. Dollar votes are some of the most honest forms of support out there.
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Very true. And difficult in a world where many people grow up believing that media should be free.
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