Although I fully realize that courts, particularly in the US, have held that infringement of copyright is different than outright theft, I am fed up with the glamorous, and often anti-establishment, connotations of applying the term piracy to such infringements.
Even Merriam-Webster includes this as one definition of piracy: “the unauthorized use of another’s production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright.”
Pirate. What a romantic label. It conjures images of Errol Flynn (or, depending on your age, Johnny Depp, I suppose) fighting off the agents of the Crown who were bent on crushing any resistance under their collective heels.
Sorry, but I don’t see them as any more romantic or admirable than Bonny and Clyde or the leeches who suck the lifeblood out of Wall Street. (OK, I know that the Wall Street crooks and digital thieves are killing anyone, but the mindset that sees laws as just impediments to what they want is very similar.)
And the thieves who think they are justified in snagging any e-books (authorized or not) without paying a dime to their creators are nothing more than common, albeit techno, thieves.
Criminals. Period. Nothing more, nothing less.
Criminals would not like it if I stole the bookcase they built for their den.
If they don’t like the way publishers and authors rightfully control access to, and the price of, their copyrighted works…well, let them devote weeks, months, or even years of blood, sweat, and tears to create something meaningful.
And then, of course, just give it away to anyone who wants it.
But that would require talent, dedication, and lots of hard work.
The British government applied the term “civil form of theft” to what is commonly called intellectual property piracy.
And that’s what it is. THEFT…and its perpetrators are THIEVES. They should be strung up from the nearest yardarm.
(This rant is the culmination of my disgust with thievery of all types — from the government taking my money at implied gunpoint to disburse to others…to digital crooks who think they own anything they can steal)
I prefer bootleg, counterfeit or smuggle as descriptions since, in general, they more closely mirror the acts of the folks involved.
Bootleg ebook editions are made when there is demand and either no or limited/expensive supply. Just as people bought bootleg liquor during prohibition or smuggled cigarettes when taxes are high etc.
There is no doubt that some people will always go for the “free” version – typically these are people such as students with little money but lots of time on their hands – but it is my belief that most people will buy the genuine edition assuming that
1) it is available
2) it is priced at a level that is not preceived as rip-off
If there is hype for a book and no e-edition is produced then someone other than the publisher will create one (see Harry Potter etc.). If the e-edition is priced at a price where it is as cheap (or cheaper) to get the book in paper from amazon then people will consider that they are being ripped off and will have feel little guilt in looking for a bootleg copy at lower price.
Seriously if you want to look at how to sell ebooks go to Baen. Ebooks are released a couple of weeks or so before print editions at a price of $5 or $6. It is fairly hard to find bootleg editions of Baen works because there’s no point (many Baen authors also allow large chunks of their back catalog to be made available electronically for free, even further reducing the point). My understanding is that Baen is one of the few publishers whose sales (both electronic and paper) are growing healthily.
Baen and Harlequin both do extremely well with e-books, but that is primarily a reflection of the willingness of their target audiences to accept e-books as viable alternatives. So far, that is not a widespread phenomenon…although things are gradually shifting in that direction for many other genres and niches.
Deciding to bootleg an e-book simply because the publisher has not made one available (or not done so at a price the reader sees as fair) is a rationalization for bad behavior without being a reasonable excuse. The intellectual property still belongs to the author and/or publisher, who should retain final control over how — or even if — the book is distributed and made available…and at what price.
What works for one author or one publisher or one book may not be the best solution for all others.
One size does not fit all.
How do you feel as an author if someone purchases a hard cover version of your book and also would like digital versions. Should they pay extra for a digital copy or should they have access to that book?
It’s certainly not some kind of inherent right. What if they buy the hardcover and then expect to get a mass market paperback version for free because it’s easier to carry around?
The decision on what formats to offer and how to bundle them (or not) for sale rightfully belongs to the rights holder not the purchaser. The book buyer is not buying the content but is only buying the content packaged in a particular format. If they don’t like the deal, they shouldn’t buy the book.
Regarding your statement, “And the thieves who think they are justified in snagging any e-books (authorized or not) without paying a dime to their creators…” this author/publisher just laughs. What do you expect when most of the publishing houses and book sellers refuse to sell me an ebook, simply because my current IP address is outside the USA? My credit cards, bank accounts, home address, all verifiable are inside the USA, but because I happen to be outside, I am not allowed to purchase your book. If I want to read your book, the only possible way is to steal it.
This may be wrong, and I choose not to steal your books, nor do I support those who do. However, you as an author must expect and adjust for the theft which is caused directly by the book sources refusing to sell your book. The more valuable your book is, the greater will be the determination to get it at any price — including theft when necessary.
As an author I expect a certain percentage of theft to occur. So instead of fighting it, thereby preventing legitimate sales, I choose to embrace the theft and design my eBooks so that when the theft does occur, I can turn that theft into a later sale and an eventual following. Theft is a real cheap source of advertising and marketing if it is handled well.
Must I remind you of Microsoft who embraced theft of its operating systems, only to update them and later use the widespread usage of the systems to capture 90%+ of the market for PC’s. Contrast this to the Lotus 123 spreadsheet v2.3 who put a pinhole in the diskettes to prevent copying the installation disks. Bootleggers were not slowed down who knew to create disk images, but it was the beginning of the end for Lotus as users were so upset over the anti-theft mechanisms that the company went on a downhill slide beginning at that point.
I strongly recommend that as authors, we all stop fighting this futile battle, and instead embrace it and use it for marketing purposes.
Businesses must make decisions about such things all the time, and you or I may not agree with those decisions. Most publishers and authors do not sell ebooks directly to customers, but instead, rely on third party retailers to handle that (such as Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc.). We have very little control over the restrictions those retailers might impose on sales.
On the other hand, if a buyer can’t get the ebook from Amazon, he can always try B&N or Kobo. Kobo has a much wider worldwide presence than most ebook retailers..
As for the IP restrictions, there may be many reasons for them, such as a history of excessive spam. I’m sure there are others.
We don’t waste a lot of our time fighting ebook thieves, but that doesn’t mean I won’t speak out against their practices and self-serving rationales.